Locket
by Caris Petruchio
Summary: Elena buys an old locket from an antique store but finds out that it used to belong to the one and only Katherine. The necklace begins to possess her and corrupts Elena to try and turn herself into a vampire. Will she succeed?
1. The Locket

_Hi there, just saying that I do not own the Vampire Diaries etcetera etcetera..._

_Plus, I would love your feed back as I am new to fan fiction and really want to know about what I could improve and what you guys want to happen. Enjoy reading._

**Locket.**

Bonnie and Elena hadn't been alone together in a long time. A lot had happened and Elena wanted it to be just like old times, but there was an odd silence lurking in the air. No longer were there simple mundane things to talk about like friendship squabbles and cheerleading, normal high school stuff. Stuff like that wasn't important anymore.

Elena guided Bonnie into the next tacky shop, they both starred carelessly at the racks of limp lifeless clothing, one day, what felt like years ago they would have been excited by this, but now it all just seemed pointless. They walked out, missing the annoyed look on the girl behind the counters face.

On the other side of the road stood a tiny store tucked in between two modern buildings, the hand painted sign on the outside read 'Cobwebs Antiques.' "How long has that been there?" Elena asked, again grabbing Bonnie's hand and leading her over the road. All of her life in this town she had never seen it before, they entered. It was dark and damp inside, everything was coated in a thin layer of dust, and the shop reminded Elena of the spare rooms in the Salvatore boarding house, years and years of being untouched. Bonnie shot Elena a dodgy look, she didn't like it here.

A Hunched old man eyed them from behind the counter. "Hello." Elena said politely, picking up a rusted picture frame and then quickly putting it back down, scared she might break it. Elena moved over to peer into the jewelry cabinet, everything was twisted and knotted together with chains broken and broaches turned over the wrong way. The shop assistant starred at her eagerly, he looked desperate. She was about to turn and leave when her eye's stumbled upon a little silver locket slightly out of the way of the rest of the jewelry.

"Can I see that please?" Elena asked, pointing down at the locket. The assistant let out a soft groan of happiness as he retrieved it for her. It was beautiful close up, tiny roses and vines were carefully engraved along its surface and it glistened in the small gap of light that peeked through the gap in the curtain. "How much is it?" Elena asked trying not to sound rude. The shop assistant paused, "That locket it very old you know, so usually I would say one hundred and twenty dollars, but you… Elena Gilbert are a very beautiful girl so I will offer it to you for fifty." He said in his fading voice. She wondered how his man knew her name, she had never seen him before but she shrugged it off. It was after all a very small town. "I'll take it." She smiled, handing him the money she thought about how this had probably been this mans only sale all week. Bonnie looked ready to leave. "Come here." The old man gestured as he unhooked the clasp on the necklace and draped it across Elena's neck. Elena swore she heard him mutter something under his breath as he hooked it together and then smiled at her weakly.

Bonnie and Elena left the shop and covered their eyes as they re adjusted to the light outside. "I'm going to meet Stefan later. Are you alright to get home?" Elena asked reaching forward and hugging Bonnie. Bonnie stayed quiet but she could tell it felt good for both of them to be holding each other again. It had been to long.

Elena jumped out of her car and almost ran to the door step, egger to see Stefan. He opened the door a fraction on a second before her hand went in to knock.

"Katherine?" Stefan gasped, his expression genuinely shocked. Elena took a step back. Katherine? What was he talking about? She knew they looked alike but it was unlike Stefan to mistake her like this. "Stefan?" she said back angrily. "Katherine what are you doing here? How are you alive?" Stefan still seemed to think she was Katherine. Something was wrong. Elena paused, "Stefan it's me Elena, what's wrong with you?" she was begin to worry about his sanity.

"Don't try and trick me Katherine. You're not Elena; I won't fall for it this time." He said taking a step back defensively."I'M ELENA, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU STEFAN!" Elena was getting mad now; she wasn't in the mood for games. There was a moment of silence; the only thing breaking it was Elena's heart beat. Stefan's eyes widened. "Elena," He said quietly "Where did you get that?" Stefan said pointing down at Elena's new locket. "This?" Elena said confused by his sudden interest in her necklace "Some antique store in town…Why?"Stefan's brow knitted together "Because that necklace is.. I mean was Katherine's." Elena's jaw dropped.


	2. Katherine?

They both stood there in a shocked state. This was too strange to be a coincidence. The necklace began to feel like Katherine's hands around her neck, gently squeezing her skin. Elena's fingers franticly shot up to her neck as she fumbled to undo the clasp, she wanted the necklace off. Now. "Hold on I'll do" Stefan said regaining his calm and gently removing the clasp from her grip. His calm soon disappeared as he struggled with the clasp. He began to tug at it to become undone. "Please… just get it off." Elena moaned starting to feel sick. Stefan grabbed at the chain his cold fingers becoming desperate to break it. Elena could feel he was putting his full strength into it this time. Nothing happened.

Stefan broke away with a disgruntled look on his face; he guided her inside and sat her down on the couch softy. "Wait here." He said coolly speeding into the kitchen. Elena just wanted the necklace off, she had had enough of Katherine and she didn't want a piece of her hanging off her neck forever. Her skin began to crawl. "The necklace might have some sort of protection charm on it, stopping people from taking it off." Stefan said returning with a pair of wire cutters. He put them to the chain careful to be sure not took bring then anywhere near Elena's flesh. Elena closed her eyes and prayed for them to work. She heard no relieving sound of a crack.

Stefan's guard slipped again and she could see the panic in this eyes. "Go and get Bonnie." Elena whispered. Stefan nodded "She might have something in one of her old ancestor's books about this" He examined Elena with his eyes "Stay here you don't look to good. Try and stay calm ok? I'll be back as soon as I can." He kissed her softly on the forehead and then he was gone.

Elena couldn't stand sitting there alone. She wished Stefan had taken her with him, the emptiness of the house was making her feel trapped and she couldn't shake the feeling of Katherine's hands lingering on her neck. She got up and paced, what could she do- Stefan thought the reason she couldn't get if off was because of some kind of charm, but how was that old man in the store able to put it on her in the first place? She thought back and all of a sudden got chills all over her body, maybe the necklace was intended for her, that's why he offered her a good price and placed it on her neck without her actually having to touch it at all. She shivered again. He had known her name.

She jumped in the car and began speeding away from the house as fast as she could, desperate to get back to the antique store to demand answers, or at least information about the necklace.

She pulled into a car park and ran down the road to where the antique store had been. She stopped dead in her tracks. It was gone. The two modern buildings it had been sandwiched between before where now firmly pressed together and Cobwebs was no where in sight. Dread filled Elena's stomach.

Something caught her eye; a man stood about twenty steps down the road from her staring blankly at the same spot on the wall where cobwebs used to be too. He was a slender and bald headed man with a lean build and pale skin. He turned and met her gaze.

With supernatural speed he raced up to her until they were face to face, noses almost touching. Elena let slip a small gasp. He was a vampire.

"Katherine?" He said his eyes sparking up with delight.

She didn't know what to say, if she said no this man might get angry, if she said yes she didn't know what could happen. The man dropped down to his knees suddenly and stared up at her. "Forgive me Katherine." He begged. Elena saw he was on the ground and took his as her chance to get away; she turned and began to run. Just as she had taken a second step she felt a cold hand wrap around her ankle pulling her down. Her heart began to beat triple time. She thrashed her leg free and continued to run until she reached her car, terrified of looking back. Within a blink she was starting the engine and halfway down the road. She looked in her rear view mirror and saw the bald man standing motionless in the middle of the road, his face clouded with disappointment.

Elena ran from the car to the boarding house not looking around her from fear of what could be in the shadows. She could still feels traces of the icy grip around her ankle. She ripped the door open and sprinted to the familiar living room. That little trip had shaken her up to say the least. As she sat down she felt a pair of cold blue eyes bearing down on her. "Katherine?" Damon whispered his voice ignited with joy.


	3. Cruor Sanguis

"I'M NOT KATHERINE!" Elena screamed, letting her frustration loose. Damon paused for a moment in shock and heard Elena's blood rushing through her veins. She was most defiantly not Katherine, but the little locket hanging around her neck said otherwise. "You're wearing her necklace." Damon breathed. "I know" Elena said pushing past him into the house her nerves beginning to slowly settle down. Damon followed her bewildered "You can't take it off can you?" Damon muttered trying to wrap his head around things; he could see that she was distressed. "How do know that?" Elena demanded, Damon seemed to know more about this necklace then Stefan and she was desperate to know more.

Damon sat down, Elena was tempted to pour herself one of Damon's infamous drinks but instead sat down on the carpet next to him. "Katherine couldn't take that necklace off even if she tried." He said is mind no longer in the room but in his memory. "She would never tell me who gave it to her or what it had inside the locket no matter how much I begged."

Elena nodded; she understood that this was not just another necklace in Katherine's collection. Her neck began to itch suddenly, Elena starched at it but it only seemed to make her want to scratch it more. Suddenly both of her hands were at her neck dragging her nails through the skin around the necklace.

Damon snapped back into reality, and turned to look at Elena clawing at her own skin. "What's wrong?" he asked pulling her closer to him so he could inspect her neck, she moved her hands for a second revealing a purple and red coarse rash beginning to form on her skin. Damon snatched her hands away to stop her scratching. "What is it?" Elena whined desperately wanting the pain to stop. "You're breaking out into some sort of rash." Damon said still holding Elena's struggling hands in place. "A rash?" Elena moaned. Things were only getting worse.

Stefan and Bonnie rushed inside to see Damon leaning over Elena on the couch holding her struggling hands away form her.

Stefan grabbed Damon by the skin of the neck and hurled him off Elena. "She's not Katherine!" He roared at his brother who was now sitting in a crumpled heap against the wall of the living room. Elena began again feverishly scratching at the skin on her neck and moaning softly. Stefan's eyes bulged as he saw the violet rash circulating around Elena's neck.

He understood what Damon was doing now but he had no time to apologize.

"Oh my." Bonnie muttered as she saw Elena's neck. She pulled her eyes away, reaching into her bag and pulling out every witchery book she had found in her grandma's house and dumping them on the table. She had to find an answer. Damon had picked himself up off the floor and rushed to Elena's other side. "Elena, you have to stop scratching." Stefan said calmly taking Elena's hands in his and moving them away from her neck. She struggled, trying desperately to find something to rub her neck against. "I feel really sick Stefan." Elena said her eyes filling up with tears. Not only was her neck burning but her whole body was starting to ache. Her mind swam unable to focus on one thing for too long; she could see the Salvatore brother's faces swirling as she shut her eyes.

Bonnie scanned page after page looking for something that matched the description of what Stefan had been telling her, she passed hundreds of objects of possessed jewelry but nothing like Katherine's locket. Suddenly she hit the black magic section and found a mention of Katherine's name. she kept looking.

Elena was flickering in and out of consciousness on the couch, unable to keep her eyelids from swaying shut. Stefan passed her small hands over to Damon and moved to read over Bonnie's shoulder. Even he was begging to feel sick. Bonnie was in a chapter written by Celdric and ancient mage when her eyes stumbled across a rough hand drawn picture of Katherine's necklace and she pressed her nose closer to the book to read the scribbled hand writing beneath it:

_Cruor Sanguis_

_Locket with the ability to transform a human into an immortal. The Cruor Sanguis removes blood from a human and compels them to seek out and drink immortal blood in order to transform themselves into one of the living dead. – Last seen on Katherine Price of Mystic falls 1864._

Damon left Elena and moved over to read what the other two were gawking at. His mouth dropped as he scanned the page. Katherine never mentioned how she had become a vampire, she always avoided the topic saying that she didn't want to remember. This necklace must have been it. Silence hung over the air as the three of them absorbed what they had just read. Stefan was the first to speak "It says 'Removes blood from human' how can it do that?" He whispered desperate for this not to be true.

No one said anything they just stared at Elena passed out peacefully on the couch, her neck still violently purple. "Maybe there is some sort of spell that can get it off." Bonnie said determinedly turning back to the book and scanning the pages. Stefan and Damon both turn and joined in desperate to find an answer.

Not one of them saw Elena pull her self up of the couch and begin stumbling to the bathroom, her hand pressed to her mouth. She had only made it a few steps when she tripped and caught her self against the wall making a small bang.

Stefan, Damon and Bonnie's heads whipped around at the noise just in time to see Elena double over herself and vomit a thick stream of crimsoned blood onto the carpet.


	4. Animalistic

_Stefan, Damon and Bonnie's heads whipped around at the noise just in time to see Elena double over herself and vomit a thick stream of crimsoned blood onto the carpet._

Elena bent over onto her hands and knees, her body convulsed as she let another mouthful of her precious blood spill onto the carpet. The smell of the blood went to Stefan's head; he backed himself against the wall trying to keep away from Elena in fear that he might attack. Bonnie looked at the Salvatore brothers faces and panicked, their eyes were clouded over and veins bulged along their pale cheeks. All they could focus on was the smell of Elena's blood in the air and the need to drink.

"Stay back!" Bonnie shouted pushing past them and running to Elena; she had past out cold with blood still slowly dripping from her mouth. This must have been what it said in the book about the body removing its own blood. She shivered as she scooped up Elena and pulled her limp body to her chest. She desperately wanted to tell Elena that everything was going to be alright but she didn't want to lie; the Salvatore brothers still stood their ground across the room with hungry expressions.

Damon was the first to snap out of it, the clouds disappeared from his eyes and she saw him consider what to do next. "Is she still vomiting blood?" Damon called taking an uneasy step towards them. Bonnie looked down at Elena, she looked completely unconscious. "I don't think so." Bonnie called back; Damon began to cross the room when Bonnie stopped him."No Damon stop… it said that she would reject her own blood and then seek out immortal blood. That means she's going to try and harm you." "Harm me." Damon said, ignoring Bonnie and continuing to get closer to them "She can't harm me, look at her, she's out cold."

Bonnie looked down at Elena just to see her stir slightly. "Stay back Damon, I'm serious. When she wakes up she might not be the Elena we remember." Damon looked down at Elena- he almost looked like he cared for her Bonnie thought. "I'm not just letting her sit there vomiting blood, we have to get her to a hospital or something." It hit Bonnie that Damon did care for Elena, even if he had a funny way of showing it.

Elena's eyes began to slowly open and she leaned forward again; her skin looked almost transparent. "Mum." She whispered softly, pain crippling her voice; before learning forward and regurgitating another violent stream of rich blood. This time it almost reached Damon's shoe but her didn't seem to care anymore, his eyes were transfixed on her filled with pain.

Elena collapsed for good this time her head gently hitting against the floor as she went limp. Damon cursed under his breath.

Bonnie tilted Elena's head to the side so she wouldn't choke on her own vomit- something she had learned some emergency first aid course she had taken at school. Stefan began finally snapping out of his trance and moving cautiously over to them; he stood next to Damon about a meter way. "What do we do?" he whispered his eyes looking empty at the sight of Elena's crumpled body. He was too afraid to come any closer, he was afraid of hurting the only thing he loved.

"Move her." Demanded Damon, reaching forward and grabbing her torso. He pulled her up off the floor and onto a couch in the next room, away from the pool of her own blood. Bonnie and Stefan followed like sheep.

Damon and Stefan both breathed in the clean air in the new room, relief washed over them. "She is going to try and draw blood from you to turn herself into a vampire." Bonnie told the brothers now sure of what was going to happen "I don't think you should be near her." "She won't be able to draw blood from us." Damon said confidently staring down at the weak little Elena. There was no way she was strong enough to hurt them. Stefan stayed silent his eyes still wide. "What will happen if she doesn't get vampire blood? Will she die?" Damon said quietly turning to Bonnie for answers, she had stayed cool headed through out his ordeal. "I don't know. The only hope she has is if we get that necklace off her." Bonnie said.

Damon tried again hopelessly to rip the locket off her.

The three were unprepared for what happened next. Elena woke with a sudden start and ran to the other side of the room before any of them could even blink. She had a crazed look in her eye and her chest was heaving. "Elena. Honey, its ok." Stefan finally spoke rushing to her side to try and comfort her. Elena said nothing she just gave a bewitched smirk; she reached out and grasped a silver knife which lay with an antique dinner set on the cabinet.

She lunged at Stefan, slashing the knife forward and letting loose a beastly snarl. The knife nipped the edge of Stefan's finger and a tiny drop of his blood began to drop to the ground. Elena licked her lips.

In an instant Damon was behind Elena pinning her hands behind her back; she thrashed about kicking and scratching wildly, Damon tightened his grip.

Elena let lose another animalistic growl as she smacked her teeth together. Stefan stumbled backwards still in shock over what had just happened. Bonnie took control; "Damon, lock her in the cellar NOW!" she shouted pushing Stefan as far away from Elena as she could. Damon forced the struggling Elena to the exit, careful not to let her touch his skin. He picked her up and launched her down the stairs; she changed her tack ticks knowing that the violence approach wasn't working. "Stefan." She begged "Stefan help me." Desperation laced her voice. "Stefan please!" Damon opened the cellar door and shoved her in, locking it promptly behind him.

Stefan winced at the sound of his own name being called through Elena's soft lips, his heart aching to go to her side and help her. Bonnie held him in place. Damon speed back to them "Well I wasn't expecting that." Damon said running his hand through his thick black hair. "I warned you." Bonnie said comically wagging her finger at him trying to relieve the tension from the situation. "I was expecting her to weakly just try and bite us or something, not a full blown attack."Damon said his tone regaining some humor "Well then, the locket seems to be doing its job." Bonnie mused bringing everyone's focus back to the problem at hand.

**Hey everyone, **

**i would really love some feedback about what you guys think should happen next as i'm still sort of torn about which turn the story should take. **

**your idea's would be much appreciated. Thanks. :D**


	5. Blackhole

_"Well then, the locket seems to be doing its job." Bonnie mused bringing everyone's focus back to the problem at hand._

"We have to get that thing off her." Bonnie said, pulling up a chair and looking around the room. Stefan's eyes still looked empty – Bonnie was starting to get annoyed with him, all of his silent moping wasn't really helping anything. In fact, if anything Damon was more of a help than Stefan.

"Maybe we could just give her blood and let her become a vampire; it is going to happen anyway." Damon said, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal. Bonnie frowned at him and Stefan shot him an alarmed look. "What!" Damon defended himself. "I was just saying. " Stefan let out a low grunt. "We need help from someone else with his, do you think I should get in contact with my auntie? She's the only person I can think of who might know what to do?" Bonnie suggested desperately trying to come up with a solution.

Elena let loose a blood curdling scream from down stairs. She began banging on the stone walls violently and stomping her feet- almost throwing a child like tantrum. Stefan looked longingly at the stairs, his hand twitching. Damon interfered "No, Stefan don't go- she has to much power over you and she'll end up getting what she wants, as usual. Bonnie go and find your auntie and take Stefan with you- I can deal with Elena alone." This idea did not please Stefan but Bonnie agreed eagerly- She didn't want to spend one second longer with Elena's screams drilling into her head, she needed space to think.

Bonnie and Stefan left the Boarding house as Damon prepared himself to go down stairs and calm down Elena. He popped on a long sleeved t-shirt not wanting to tease her by showing to much skin. As he was walking down the stairs he only just began to realize that her screams and moans had stopped, yet again there was a sickly silence.

He heard no noises coming from the cellar.

"Elena?" He whispered, peering through the rusted bars on the door. She sat in a crumpled heap on the floor tears flooding down her cheeks, her body twisted awkwardly. He became rushed with guilt as he thought of the way he had treated her like an animal before- this was unusual, it was not often Damon felt guilt and it made him feel kind of sick.

Elena looked so weak and defenseless and Damon finally realized why Stefan could never bear to hurt her. "I don't know what's happening Damon." She moaned, her voice wobbling uncontrollably. "I can't stop myself. One minute I'm me and the next I'm trying to kill Stefan. I can't clear my head. I want blood so bad. I can even smell it." Her eyes moved up from the ground and became transfixed on Damon's neck.

He knew this was serious but he couldn't help but laugh at the sudden turn of events. He finally knew what it felt like to have someone gazing hungrily at his neck.

"It's ok Elena." Damon said trying his hardest to plaster a pleasant look on his face. He suddenly regretted sending Stefan away as he did not really know how to comfort Elena - When he volunteered for the job he was expecting a screaming match not a heart to heart session. Damon tried his best to look positive, "We're going to sort this out Elena, you just need patience." Elena suddenly snorted "Patience? Who are you to try and tell me about patience?" She laughed her frown slowly relaxing. Damon let himself laugh too feeling some of the tension come off his shoulders.

There was a moments silence and the mood suddenly went sour again, Elena's eyes darted from Damon's neck to his eyes and then back up again. "What's it like?" She whispered her hands gripping the floor. "What? Being a vampire?" Damon said as if he didn't already know. To answer this question he would have to be careful after what happened with Jeremy. "It's like having a black hole in yourself that can never be filled. It just grows and grows until it consumes you." Damon said quietly. "At least, that's what it's like for me." He had never said that aloud before.

Elena was getting to see a side of Damon that she had never seen, or even heard of before. Even though all that grazed the front of her mind was finding blood, somewhere in the back she felt guilty for the way she had treated him like an animal in the past.

Damon and Elena stared into each others eyes for a few seconds soaking in the new side of each other they had both seen. Elena broke out into a sweat; she didn't know how much longer she could keep herself held to the corner of the room. Her body was begging to lurch forward and lunge at Damon for his blood; she let out a low whimper.

Katherine sat in her perch atop an oak tree near the Salvatore manner. Her plan had run flawlessly, from Elena choosing the locket at the store right through to Damon begin left in charge her, things were going almost to well. All she needed now was for Damon to be distracted for a few seconds so the final part of her plan could commence. She moved closer her ears picking up everyone of Elena's last breaths.

Elena felt like she was going to pass out again but instead struggled to keep talking to Damon, anything to keep her mind off blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. Now she was on she couldn't stop. She looked up at Damon, "Damon, can you get me water please, my throat burns." She said letting herself look weak on purpose. She needed Damon to leave so she could clear her mind of his sent; she needed to resist her urges no matter how hard it may be. He eyed Elena uneasily but then turned to followed her commands, it's not like she could get into any trouble locked in the cellar he thought to himself as he ascended up the stairs.

As soon as Damon was gone, Katherine was by the cellar door her arms causally hanging through the bars, her expression was sinister. "Katherine…" Elena mouthed- the breath knocked out of her. "Well… hello there sweet-heart." Katherine said playfully, producing a small steel knife out of her pocket and making a long deep slit down her arm. She thrust it forward, her murky red vampire blood dripping onto the floor.

Elena lunged forward.


	6. Heartbeat

_Elena lunged forward._

But stopped herself just before she could let her lips touch Katherine's blood. "I can't." She screamed at Katherine, her eyes burning with hunger."You can." Katherine whispered, ignoring Elena's struggles and shoving her pale wrist to Elena's lips. A single drop of Katherine's blood slipped onto Elena's tongue.

Damon heard Elena scream down stairs and began to rush to her side until he hit into what felt like a brick wall. He looked up, "Isobel." He said, not in the mood for any of her foolish games."Ah Damon, I hear your turning my daughter into Katherine." Isobel said, knowing just how to pull Damon's nerves "What do you care?" Damon said trying to push past her to reach Elena. She stopped him again, "Of course I care." She paused for a moment. "She's my baby." Damon didn't swallow this one bit- he heard things bumping and scratching downstairs. "Look Isobel, I'm not in the mood for your shit." Damon was starting to regain the poison on the end of his tongue he had been suppressing around Elena. "Don't you want to know how to get the locket off?" Isobel teased, taking the glass of water from Damon's hands and tipping it down the sink. He ignored her effort to irritate him- trying again to push past her. She stopped him yet again, "So you're just letting her become one of the dammed." She teased again, saying each word slowly and carefully. Damon was done with this. He grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against the wall- something he felt like he had to do far too often. "Listen here bitch." He spat, his face inches from hers "You may be Elena's birth mother but to me you are nothing but a piece of dirt under my fingernails. I can break you as fast as I created you. Got it?" Isobel cast her eyes to the stairs for a moment and then smirked. "Go on Damon, go check on baby Elena down stairs."

Elena's lips sucked greedily on Katherine's wrist, letting her bitter sweet blood drip into her veins- she knew this is what she didn't want but her thoughts were blocked out entirely by her needs. She began feeling intoxicated with a heavy feeling, Katherine pulled her wrist away. "All done." Katherine smiled down at her double. A comical frown appeared on Elena's face as she didn't want to stop, Katherine let out a light chuckle. "Bye Bye Elena." She said- placing her hands gently on Elena's neck and then twisting it quickly. She sighed as she heard the tiny crack.

Damon heard a quite clicking noise down stairs as he let go of Isobel's neck. He eyed her suspiciously and then turned hurriedly to go check on Elena.

Katherine looked at Elena lying crumpled on the floor; step two of the plan was now to commence. Katherine reached down and wiped some of her own blood off the floor, smearing it under her own chin so it matched Elena's, she messed up her own hair and wiped dirt along the back of the jeans, then the final touch, she took off Elena's locket and clipped it onto herself- 'this is too good' she thought looking in a pocket mirror at her reflection. She practiced Elena's signature startled gaze. Then Katherine heard Damon's foot step cautiously ascend the stairs, she threw herself to the ground crumbling her body in a fragile manner. She waited for his approach eagerly.

On the way down the stairs Damon felt there was something wrong but he just couldn't place it- he stopped.

There was no heartbeat coming from the Cellar.

He sped to the window on the door and gazed through- what he saw knocked the breath out of him. Two identical Elena's sprawled out side by side on the stone floor, each of their bodies twisted in an uncomfortable angle. Both of them had blood stained chins and ragged hair, their clothes both absolutely identical. Damon looked for a mirror in the room but saw nothing- there was only logical explanation for this. One of the Elena's' was Katherine. For the first time in a long time he felt like he was going to be sick, his head beginning to spin. This couldn't be happening.

Isobel slithered causally up behind him peering in the window "Wow. Man, Katherine is good." Isobel said marveling at the mirror effect Katherine had created. Damon tuned out of Isobel's taunts and thought about what had just happened- Katherine must have made sure Elena would buy that necklace knowing that she would try and turn herself into a vampire. She must have feed Elena her blood knowing that she couldn't resist and killed her while he was upstairs distracted by the idiotic Isobel. He hated himself for even leaving. This was all his fault. Then something else hit him. Katherine was alive- but for some reason this bought him no joy because what was worse than Katherine being alive was that Elena was dead. He never thought he would feel this but somehow now Elena meant more to him than Katherine ever could have. All he felt for Katherine now was pure hatred.

As the real Elena began to stir so did the fake one. They both sat up with dazed expressions- one real. One fake. "Damon." Elena said "What happened." She raised a delicate hand and rested it on her head. "What's going on Damon?" Katherine said, matching Elena's tone perfectly. Katherine gasped "Damon, Katherine killed me!" Katherine said pointing at Elena with wide eyes. "I'm not Katherine." Elena said genuine confusion on her face. "I'm not Katherine." Katherine repeated doing a fake vulnerable shiver.

"Beautiful." Isobel laughed at the way the plan has flawlessly worked.

Damon starred down at the two women. One he loved - one he despised. He just didn't know which one.


	7. Convincing

_Damon starred down at the two women. One he loved - one he despised. He just didn't know which one._

"What's happening Damon? I want blood so bad." Katherine coughed - stumbling toward the door an reaching towards Damon's hands. Elena followed her sheepishly, Katherine was stealing the words right out of her mouth. Elena pressed her fingers to her forehead trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. She remembered Katherine cutting herself in found of her and tempting her with her blood. She remembered desperately trying to resist. She remembered the feeling of Katherine's rich blood in her veins. But what was happening now? She was a vampire yes, but why was Katherine pretending to be her?

There was a moment of silence in the room as Damon surveyed both of the Elena's carefully, untrusting of both of them. Elena felt absolutely sick- she wanted nothing more than to just curl up into a ball and cry. "I want Stefan." Elena mumbled to Damon her eyes filling up with tears. Damon turned to her; that must be the real Elena he thought, Katherine couldn't show that kind of vulnerability. "Elena?" Damon said reaching out for the real Elena; he was just about to grab her hand when he stopped. The damned silver locket was wrapped around the other Elena's neck- which as he remembered it was 'un-removable'. He was back to square one.

"I need to get out of here- I feel sick." Katherine moaned, trying hard to fight back against Elena's convincing innocence. She opened the door and slipped with inhuman speed up to the dinning room. The real Elena followed her, wanting desperately to be free of the cellar- it still smelt of her own blood. Isobel let another satisfied laugh slip through her lips as she also followed the upstairs not wanting to miss any action.

Damon's brow tensed, what was Katherine trying to do here? He followed the rest of the group up the stairs not bothering to use vampire speed. He needed to clear his head and think, Elena's life could depend on it. Damon entered the dinning room to yet again stumble upon a mirror image of both Elena's sitting side by side. Determination filled Katherine's eyes, the plan had gone to far for it not to work. She wanted Elena dead. "Katherine did this to me, kill her, please Damon… Please." She said breathlessly adding touches of desperation to her voice.

Elena sat silently staring at the ground. "Elena wouldn't ask me to kill someone… Katherine." Damon said striding up to her and grabbing her by the shoulder – his face inches away form hers "I'm not Katherine." Katherine squealed letting tears stream down her face for the first time in 75 years.

Damon stopped in his tracks. He had never seen Katherine cry before – frustration took a hold of him as his mind flipped from yes to no like a switch, he turned to Isobel "Which one is Katherine?" He roared seizing her but the throat yet again and pinning her to the wall. "I honestly don't know, I'm just as confused as you." She squeaked, her body tense. She was telling the truth.

Elena's emotions were soaring through the roof as watched what was happening in front of her. Anger, sorrow, pain, passion, regret. Her head was a mess. Elena piped up, "Damon, I am Elena. You can trust me." She tried to make her voice sound certain but Damon's eye's looked skeptical. "What are you trying to pull here Katherine?" Katherine shouted at Elena tears still running down "Haven't you done enough?" Elena was shocked; she was so convincing .She no longer knew what to say.

Damon let out a long grunt. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

Katherine then swiftly slapped Elena in the face. The sound cut through her air like a knife. Before Damon could know what was happening Elena hit back. They both began to fight like cats, pushing each other from one side of the room to another- Elena spat in Katherine's face. Katherine ripped at Katherine's hair. Damon began to panic- they were flying around the room at lightning speed and he didn't know what to stop or who to believe. Isobel's chuckles started up again. "Help Damon." Katherine said, pleading as Elena clawed at her torso. Damon stood frozen, still unsure of what to do. The fight intensified – if he didn't to something soon both Elena's would be dead or worse. The Elena would be dead.

He watched their fighting styles, looking for one of them to be superior over the other, that one would be Katherine – but yet again, they were identical. Both of them had fangs out and were taking shots at each other's necks. Katherine sent Elena slamming onto the dinning room table shattering it into wooden splinters. Katherine gabbed one of the thick wooded splinters and pressed it to Elena's heart.

Damon Rushed forward to intercept the blow just as Stefan sped in. "ELENA NO!" He roared gabbing a table leg and ramming it into one of the Elena's hearts.


	8. Aftershock

There was a moment of sickly silence.

Isobel was no longer laughing as she stared at the scene in front of her.

Stefan had acted on impulse and was now shaking as everything that had just happened caught up to him. He backed away letting the bloody chair leg slip out of his hands onto the floor.

Damon held is breath, for no reason other than to make the silence last longer. He needed more time to think.

Sobbing began to come from the girl under a thick layer of mattered vampire blood. "Stefan." She said her eyes welting up, she tried to push herself up but slipped and fell back down again. Her tears continued.

"Are you Elena?" Isobel muttered, staring into the girls eyes searching for answers. No reply. She tried again "Are you Elena?" She demanded again wanting answers. "Yes…" The girl whispered as she tried again to pick herself up. "And you're telling the truth." Isobel said, again staring hard at the girls facials features looking for clues that this was actually Katherine. The girl nodded. In the blink of an eye Isobel was gone.

"How did you know that that was Elena?" Damon croaked- still in shock. For a few moments there was no sound to be heard but the rasping of the girl's breath. "I could just feel it." Stefan muttered under his breath as he sped to Elena's side. "Stefan," She whimpered"Stefan, get this off me." She looked down at the thick gooey blood covering her. In an instant Stefan had Elena out from under the heap and was cradling her in his arms. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry." Stefan kept muttering to himself as she pulled her head to his chest.

Damon looked down at what remained on the floor. "Katherine's dead." The words slipped out of his lips with surprising volume- they turned to stare at him. He had said that line so many times, never really believing it but this time he was sure. He broke the air with it again, "Katherine's dead." Each time it got louder. "Katherine's dead."

Elena wiggled free from Stefan's arms and ran to Damon with new found speed. She pressed her delicate hands to his face. "Damon. It's over. She will torment you no longer."She said, her lip quivering.

She was right. He stared at her face- even patched with blood and dirt he could see the beauty it held. Her eyes were rounder than Katherine's and more doe like, her chin slightly more pointed. Her eyebrows slightly softer. Why did he not notice these things before? Katherine's face had held a beauty… yes, but not like Elena's. Elena's held purity. Damon could not forgive himself for not stopping all of this from happening right at the beginning.

Elena dropped her hands and rushed back over to Stefan- rubbing her face into his shirt. Stefan scoped her up and took her upstairs, away from the horrible memories.

Damon's head was buzzing. Elena was right, Katherine and her tricks would torment him no longer- he felt like weights had been lifted off his shoulders. No longer was there a nagging pain in his heart. It was all over. And it had set its sights on a new target. Sweet sweet Elena.

As the water in the shower began to run and steamed oozed out, Stefan turned back to Elena. Her eyes were off in some distant place, her body still filthy. Stefan lifted up her shirt and removed her jeans. He kissed her on the head and murmured into her skin. "You just clean up, ok sweetie? I'll look after everything else." He talked to her like she was five years old but at the moment that was all she wanted. She nodded and Stefan left the room.

Downstairs, Damon still hadn't moved. His head was still buzzing. Katherine's body was limp on the floor, Stefan tried not to look at it as he flung it over his shoulder. As fast as he could he took it to the lake in the next town over, each second away from the fragile Elena felt like a year. Once he got there he dragged her into the water with him and took her to the bottom of the lake floor. He quickly dug a whole in the ground and dumped her in, covering her body with rocks. Surprisingly it didn't hurt to let her go, after all she had done to his life it was almost a relief. He dried himself back on sore and began to sprint back to the boarding house, not wanting to waste a second.

Elena finished her shower and roamed aimlessly downstairs, following her instincts. There sat Damon in the Kitchen, his lips pressed to a tall glass of rich human blood.

Her mouth watered. She knew what she was looking for. "Can I have some of that?" she asked widening her eyes at Damon.


	9. Jealously begins

_Her mouth watered. She knew what she was looking for. "Can I have some of that?" she asked widening her eyes at Damon._

Damon stared at the fresh and clean Elena, her hair was in a moist bun atop her head and she had on one of Stefan's large shirts that fell down to her mid thigh. Her gaze was focused tightly on the glass in Damon's hand.

This had to have been the millionth time today Damon didn't know what to do and it was beginning to bug him. She was clearly fixated on the blood and not giving a newly born vampire what they want could have serious consequences. He was about to hand it over to her when he thought that Stefan would probably kill him for this- they had never talked about it but he was sure saint Stefan would probably want to start her on the squirrel diet straight away so she didn't have to go through the pain of quitting human blood.

Elena was moving over to him slowly, her mouth hanging slightly open. "Um Elena, I'm not sure this is what Stefan would want." Damon said moving the glass away from her. "Since when have you ever cared about what Stefan wants?" she asks, getting impatient "Anyway… I'm not Stefan." She placed a hand on his chest her face moving closer to him. "Please Damon." She said biting down on her lip. Damon gulped- he was finding it hard to resist giving her what she wanted, especially when it was what he wanted as well.

He snapped out of her gaze and pushed the glass of blood down the sink hole, slowly watching it swirl down. A small groan escaped Elena's lips "Why did you do that?" She mutters taking a step back and leaning against the fridge, she presses her hand to her forehead, slight agony across her face. "Number one reason," Damon stays this time approaching her, "Is that I don't want to have to deal with you crying and feeling sorry for yourself because you went on a murderous blood rampage and killed half the town. Number two reason is that I won't be able to stand you going through that whole 'human blood withdrawal' phase. And number three; well I don't have a number three but two reasons are enough." She looks up at him with her eyes round "But I want it so bad." Elena says reminding him of a small child taking about a toy. "Oh, and you think I don't know all about that." Damon says rolling his eyes. Elena begins to realize how selfish she sounds and looks down self-consciously; she doesn't want Damon to think she is a brat.

"When will Stefan be back?" She mumbles still staring down at the floor, tears rolling down her cheek. Damon's struggling being this close to her and not pulling her waist to his or stroking her hair- he wants to reach down, push her chin up to the light and dry her tears but he knows she doesn't need confusing anymore right now. "I don't know." He says, breaking away from her and moving to sit down at the breakfast bar. Elena looks over at him longingly. "Then, will you show me how to hunt?" She whispers.

Meanwhile- Stefan is still speeding through the forest, anxious about leaving Elena alone. He pays no attention to his surroundings until a white figure speeds past him at a speed that almost matches his. Both figures grind to a halt and turn to look at each other, the man Stefan is facing is frighteningly pale and long looking, even is face is long which is not helped by his clean bald head. "Vampire?" he asks Stefan curiously- making sure that he was in fact and immortal. "Yes." Stefan replies slightly in a rush. Not sure if he has time to investigate the foreigner. "I am looking for a Katherine Price. Do you know of her?" He says doubtfully. Stefan's breath escapes him for a second. "No sorry. I do not live in this area." he lies cool, hoping that his man believes him. "Sorry to bother you." The man says,then the next second he is gone.

Stefan watches him leave, his brain buzzing with questions – why does this man want Katherine? What if he finds Elena?. He ignores them and continues racing back to the boarding house.

Damon and Elena are standing about 100 meters from the boarding house in the thick forest. Elena is moving around energetically, it's the first time she has been given space since her transformation and she is struggling to keep still. Damon places his hand on her shoulder steadying her, "Close your eyes." He says, Elena follows his command "What can you smell?" She pauses for a moment. "You?" she says with a questioning tone. "No, not me, smell past me. Try to pick up moving blood." Her nose begins to wriggle. "Can I open my eyes?" she asks impatiently. "Can you smell something?" Damon fires back. "Yes I think so." Elena says wandering off to her right. Damon follows her observing her every movement, cautious that she might pick up on a human scent.

Stefan was beginning to regret taking Katherine so far away- he felt uneasy not begin near Elena and he could help his mind from obsessing over what she had gone through and how she must be feeling right now. He speed up even faster for a few seconds but then came to a grinding halt, there was another vampire in the woods again. He grew agitated, sick of not being able to have a moment's peace without someone showing up threatening to ruin the town. Just to be safe he followed the sent to check it wasn't a threat- he approached cautiously, trying to catch the invader off guard. Then in a clearing he spotted the immortal invader- Elena wandering aimlessly through the bush.

She stared up at him with a startled expression "Stefan." She smiled gleeful, surprising herself with the speed she used to get to him. Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head in its favorite spot. Stefan took out a sigh of relief, his fears of Elena being in distress faded away. Over Elena's shoulder Damon wandered into the clearing, he was unable to stop his eyes from burning with jealously when he saw Elena's arms draped around Stefan's shoulders and her face nuzzled into his chest. Stefan caught Damon's facial expression and smirked at him- Elena was his.


	10. Agitated

"What are you doing out here?" Stefan said glancing over at Damon suspiciously, "I wanted to hunt." Elena said her voice still muffled into Stefan's chest. He looked down at her; she obviously hadn't been doing to well at hunting, her moist hair had been pulled out of a bun but only in certain places like she had walked through a bush and gotten caught in the branches, also all she had on was one of his fine winter shirts that fell down to her mid thigh- and although Stefan thought this made her look incredibly sexy he acknowledged that it was extremely impractical. He wandered what she had done to get Damon to take her out hunting for animal, something that repulsed him; then again Stefan knew all to well about how charming Elena could be when she wanted to be.

Elena released her grip on Stefan and took a few steps back. Damon had been watching their embrace and with each second he had been getting more agitated, part of him was just yearning to kill Stefan and drag Elena off to some remote castle were he could make love to her and keep her safe from the rest of the world. Actually the more he thought about it the more he was beginning to like this plan.

"I'm hungry." Elena grumbled for what felt like the hundredth time. Stefan looked up to the sky seeing the sun approach. "The suns coming up darling, we don't have time to teach you how to hunt. You need to get away from the sun; I'll find you some thing to drink." Elena cast a look to the lightening sky and shivered "Will I never get to see the sun again?" She asked a crease appearing between her eyebrows. "Oh don't worry, we will get you a ring- we just need bonnie to spell you one." Elena gasped "Oh my god Bonnie." She said remembering that she hadn't seen her since she was human "Where is she? Is she ok?" "She's fine" Stefan said "Her aunty wouldn't let her come back with me because she could 'sense the evil' that's when I knew that something was going wrong back at the house."

Stefan thought back on all that had happened in one day, it had felt like a second. One minute Elena was a human going on a shopping trip with a friend, and then she was vomiting blood and trying to stab me. Katherine. Now she's in the forest looking for blood. So many thoughts and memories flooded Stefan's head of past events he found it hard to think.

Elena cast a glance over at Damon, still leaning against a tree with an agitated expression. "Am I going to get a thank you?" Damon asked- still longing to sweep Elena off her feet and carry her away, not that he could ever let her know that. "Oh, thank you." Elena said, forcing a smile at Damon even though she was actually grateful for how he had treated her throughout this whole ordeal- not that she could ever let him know that.

"Come on." Stefan said, scooping Elena up into his arms and speeding off with her, leaving Damon with the tree. He kicked the dirt, 'Dam it' Damon thought. No matter what happened Stefan always ended up looking like the hero and as usual Stefan had the only thing that he wanted; Elena. He realized that he couldn't just pry her from his grasps and that if he was ever going to get her it would have to be by her choice. Stefan would respect any decision Elena made. Whipped. But then again, if Stefan was whipped than so was he. So Damon reached the final decision, the only way to win Elena over would be to woo her the good old fashioned way. With the decision made Damon sped back to the manor just as the sun poked over the hills.

Elena was droopily lying on the leather lounge suet when Damon bustled in the door. He heard her murmur to Stefan "I want to sleep but I'm so hungry." Why was Stefan trying to get her to sleep on the couch? Damon pondered as he entered the room "You can have my room if you want." Damon said coolly sitting down opposite the lovers. Even though he had been talking to Elena, Stefan replied for her "She can't sleep anywhere were she could be possibly exposed to windows, and your bedroom is not going to do the trick." He said irritated. Elena was struggling to keep her eyes open although her mind was still set on the glass of thick blood from earlier; she wondered how high the sun was up now. "That's it Elena, sleep." Stefan said draping a woolen blanket over her even though he knew she would no longer struggle with the cold. Her eyes made that final flicker before they shut- her body slipping into a much needed rest.

Once Stefan was sure she was out cold he turned to Damon "I have a lot of things I need to sort out so I'm going to be gone for awhile. I don't really want to ask you this but could you watch her. Just for today." Stefan added at the end turning to leave his brother."Sure." Damon mumbled his eyes gluing to Elena's sleeping face, he couldn't be stuffed adding something cynical. Stefan was gone and something seemed to quite; he realized he was missing the sound of Elena's heartbeat.

Stefan was off to sort three things- number one, he had to convince Jenna that Elena was ok and not to go looking for her. That would be difficult. Number two; he had to try and make Bonnie spell a ring for Elena, not only that, he had to break all that had happened to Bonnie. Number three; he must find some blood for Elena to drink when she wakes up, preferably not human blood.

He sped up his pace not wanting to leave Damon alone with Elena long.

Damon continued watching Elena- he needed a plan, his plans never really seemed to work out right but he still felt like he needed one. He glanced down at his fist in a tight ball on his lap; his knuckles were going white from the pressure.

Finger by finger he released his fist reveling the smaller ring that sat in his palm. Whist Stefan was upstairs with Elena and Damon was left to stare at Katherine's bloody body, he had removed her sun protecting ring and slipped it into his pocket just as a memento of her. He was surprised Stefan hadn't noticed it gone.

Elena who slept heavily on the couch began to stir in her sleep, her lips parted shortly and words began to slip out, "Why is Stefan never there?" She said, her eyes still glued shut. Damon thought about the little glimmer of Elena's mind that he had just received; she was right- Stefan hadn't been with her throughout the whole ordeal, he was to busy trying to do everything at once. One minute he was with Elena and she was happy and the next he was gone leaving her lost and confused. Stefan had a fault. Stefan had a fault. Stefan had a fault. Damon loved saying the words over and over in his head. He looked back at Elena begging her to say something else. She was silent.

Damon slipped the ring onto Elena's finger. Perfect fit, he thought as he marveled at the way the ring just seemed to hug Elena's finger in all the right spots.

As Damon stepped back, Elena's eyes began to flutter. It was still early morning, she must have had trouble sleeping- but then again Damon can't sleep on an empty stomach either. "Morning sunshine." He said as she sat up too fast causing her head to spin. "It's still morning!" she said looking around for some light in the room. "Yes, but don't worry the sun won't hurt you." "Why not?" Elena said, and then she looked down at her finger. "Oh, you got me a ring?" She said a smile spreading across her face- she was worried she would never get to see the sun again.

"Oh yes I got you a ring. And now I'm going to take you hunting any place or anything you want. When was the last time you had fun?" Damon asked his eyes sparkling at the ideas that circulated in his head.

**Thanks for your reviews i appreciate them so much. I'm sorry not much went on in this chapter but i promise the next one will be pack with a lot of Delena action, plus other kinds of action too. Keep reviewing to keep me writing. xox**


	11. Mischievous Games

_"Oh yes I got you a ring. And now I'm going to take you hunting any place or anything you want. When was the last time you had fun?" Damon asked his eyes sparkling at the ideas that circulated in his head._

Damon tugged on Elena's hand as he led her to his car, "The world is your oyster." He breathed, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. A puzzled look sprung across her face "But I don't know where I want to go." She said staring at his overly flashy car. Damon paused in thought. "You know what?" he said turning Elena back in the direction they had came. "Screw the car. Instead we shall have a race." He wore a smug look on his face. "A race?" Elena asked hesitantly. Now Damon was full on grinning "A race to the top of that hill." He said pointing to a hill far off in the distance. "But that will take forever." Elena said more to her self than Damon. Damon turned to face her- "Well you don't know how fast you can run yet can you?"

He was still smiling and Elena was beginning to warm to this new playful smiley Damon. "And what if I win?" Elena said returning his smirk. "If you win I shall catch you the biggest deer you have ever laid your eyes on." Elena licked he lips subconsciously. Now she had a motivation to win and surprisingly a deer sounded very appetizing right now. "And… if I win…" Damon knew he was playing with fire here. "I shall get a peck on the cheek." Elena giggled- she never took Damon as a peck on the check kind of guy. Damon was bemused by her giggling; it was not the reaction he had expected. "Oh and by the way… I didn't say I would play nice. I want that peck." And then in a flash, Damon was gone.

Elena stood there bewildered for a few seconds before she began to run, she was amazed by her own speed- she wasn't even pushing that hard and she could only just see the outline of trees blurred as she ran past. She could hear Damon along way ahead of her and broke into a sprint, she felt as light as air as she dodged past rocks and jumped over streams. Damon was right- she was already having fun.

Up ahead Damon stopped in his tracks, it was time for his first sneaky trick. He picked a rock up off the floor and hollowed out the inside, turning it into a bowl shape. Quickly he filled it with water from the stream and scaled a near by tree, waiting for Elena to go past. He could hear she had found how to use her full speed and was timing her approach. Just as she was about to pass under him he tipped the bowl over her head, it hit her with perfect precision, drenching her face and hair and splattering her clothes. She stopped in her tracks and looked up, the expression on her face priceless. Her mouth was stuck in a round o shape and her eyebrows were raised to their fullest. Damon burst out in a fit of thundering laughter as she growled softly. "I told you I was playing dirty." He said still laughing to himself. Then he launched himself down from the tree again and took off running to plan his next attack. Elena grizzled slightly as she wiped the stream water from her chin. If he was going to play dirty then so was she. This was war.

Damon stopped when he knew Elena was a good distance behind him- he wasn't sure anything could beat this last trick and he didn't want Elena to think he had just used this as an excuse to tease her. He hid simply behind a tree; he was going to let her get him back.

Elena continued on the path Damon had set out, keeping her sensors alert for an attack. She was still going forward when she spotted Damon hiding all to simply behind a tree. "You." She shouted playfully launching her self at him. They both smiled as they hit each other around like puppies having a play fight, every once in awhile Damon would pretend like he had been distracted and let Elena jump on him. Her attempt to hurt him felt for like pillows hitting him on the head. Elena was getting no where with he little attacks so she quickly thought up a plan, she stopped fighting him and turned to look at him face to face, there was only about thirty centimeters between them. Elena knew Damon wouldn't be prepared for her next move and she smiled to her self.

Damon caught that glimmer of mischief in Elena's eyes as she stared at him, then Elena did something that entirely shocked him.

She ducked down and pulled down his pants.

Laughing hysterically as they fell down to his ankles, Elena looked up at his shocked expression and continued to roar with laughter falling over onto her bum, unable to steady herself.

His boxers were pink.

If she didn't know any better she would have sworn she saw him blush. In a blink he had pulled his jeans back up and was tucking in his shirt- his face trying it's hardest to hide his smile. Elena stopped laughing and wriggled to her feet- "Sorry." She said, still unable to suppress the grin. "You will be when I beat you." Damon said dashing to Elena's right and begging to climb upwards. Elena was shocked that they were already at the bottom of the hill. It had looked like hours away. She dug her heels into the floor, not wanting to loose.

Elena put her full force in and soon she was racing neck and neck with Damon. She could tell he wasn't going his fastest but that didn't mean she was giving up. Then Damon ground to a halt. "Were here." He said looking around. He was right, they were at the very top point of the hill "Who won." Elena demanded, he competitive side firing up. Damon wiggled an eyebrow;" I suppose it was a draw." He said melodramatically turning his cheek towards Elena.

She sighed, going on her tippy toes and giving him the faintest peck. Even though it was tiny, Damon was satisfied.

Once she had stopped blushing, her hand shot up to her throat. "Oh my god." She almost shouted "I am so hungry." She was shocked that she had almost forgotten about her hunger the whole time she was with Damon. "Well then, I suppose I should do my part of the deal, take a seat." He said sitting Elena down on a near by tree trunk. Damon was gone for about three seconds before he returned with a massive deer carcass over his shoulder. Before Elena could control herself she latched onto it- her fangs flaring out for the first time.

Damon just watched as the relief soothed over her body. She keep going until there was almost no blood left. She pulled away wiping her chin smoothly "Now that was worth it." She said turning to Damon, almost expecting a disgusted expression to be on his face. "If you think that was good…" he said not finishing his sentence. He knew he shouldn't tease Elena like that. "Human blood is better than that?" she said in disbelief, remembering the amazing feeling of the hot blood dripping down her throat. "Shockingly." Damon said, she looked interested so he changed the subject. Knowing he would just dig himself into a hole. "So what do you want to do?" He said moving towards her "Well you've gone and got me all mischievous now." She said cutely tapping her chin. "Teach me some more vampire tricks." She said, her eyes sparkling.

Damon had an idea. "Would you like to learn how to compel?" he said wiggling her eyebrows at her. "Can I do that?" she asked interested. "Of coarse, just not as well as me." He said keeping his smugness. "Hey, remember who drew the race." Elena said, getting up off the floor and moving to his side. "Well seeming it was a draw; this should be a competition too- just to settle it once and for all." Elena was ridiculously adorable the way she was so egger. Damon was shocked how he had not fallen for her from the start.

A small part of Damon's brain felt bad for leaving Stefan to do all of the hard stuff while he got to have fun with his beautiful girlfriend but it was the part of Damon's brain that he usually ignored.

An hour later, Damon and Elena were sitting in the city center. "This is how it's going to work." Damon said leaning into Elena's ear "We are both going to try and compel as many people as we can to act like chickens in the middle of the street. We will have ten minutes and by the end who ever did the most people will win." Elena's eyes widened as she tried not to laugh at his ridiculous idea. "That's not fair, you have an advantage." Elena pointed out. "Ok then, you will get a one minute head start." Elena nodded. "And prizes?" She asked. Damon paused; he was not sure how much he could get away with before she said no. "If you win- I will shout out in the middle of the street as loud as I can that I am horny." He said laughing at his own imagination. Elena giggled at this; she wished she had bought her camera with her because now she had to win. "And if you win?" Elena asked. "Then you shall shout 'Damon is the sexiest man to walk the earth' in the middle of the square." Elena felt like she was fifteen years old again. "Deal." Elena shouted rushing up from the bench and up to a man walking his dog. She made eye contact with his and tried to pull him in "You shall act like a chicken until I tell you to stop." She said simply, hoping he was under- to her delight he followed her command and began pecking at the floor. Elena squealed with happiness as she moved to the next victim. Damon jumped up off the stool joining in the fun.

The pair ran around franticly until Damon commanded a bus load of people to get off and do the chicken dance. Elena knew that he had won. They met in the middle of the square, Elena's lip poking out. "Ha ha." Damon said softly looking around at the 84 humans acting like chicken around the surrounding streets. "I must say… well done though." He was surprised at her ability already, then again she was charming to begin with. "Thanks." Elena said winking at Damon as she took ten steps back from him. She cleared her throat.

"DAMON IS THE SEXIEST MAN TO WALK THE EARTH!" She bellowed at the top of her voice. Damon almost had to cover his ears. The pair laughed hard for a few seconds as the humans began to drop out of there trances and shoot them dirty looks.

Out of nowhere a slender bald man rushed up to Elena with inhuman speed.

"Katherine." He whopped wrapping a paper white arm around her waist. He was the man who had grabbed her ankle just yesterday. Elena let out a glass shattering scream.


	12. Thrashed

_"Katherine." He whopped wrapping a paper white arm around her waist. He was the man who had grabbed her ankle just yesterday. Elena let out a glass shattering scream._

"Who the hell are you?" asked Damon, flying to Elena's side- not caring who saw him. The pale man shot him a sharp glare and wrapped his hand around Elena's mouth, muffling her screams. She thrashed about but his grasp on her did not slip, people began slipping out of their states and turning to watch; wide eyed. Damon tried to pull Elena from his grasp but the man began fleeing backwards with Elena still tucked under his arm.

The man was gone before Damon could even make eye contact with Elena- nothing of him left but some broken leaves where he once stood. Elena had been taken with him. "Crap." Damon shouted as humans near by began pulling out there cell phones to call the police- none of them had really understood what had happened but they felt the right to get involved in it anyway. Damon's immortal eyes flicked the area for a sign of Elena having escaped but she was long gone.

Just as a stocky male bystander was reaching the police Damon addressed everyone in the area- pulling them into his trance. "You do not remember anything form the last 10 minutes." He boomed "Return to your homes." And with that he was gone. Following the faint metallic sent of the unknown vampire.

After spending a good two hours convincing Jenna that everything was alright and that she couldn't see Elena for a while, Stefan arrived at Bonnie's house- knocking lightly on the door. A few seconds after the door was flung open at an alarming speed, Bonnie stood on the other side of it; an stressed expression on her face. She must not have slept, Stefan thought- staring past her to the piles of half finished witch craft books on the table. She had not given up on trying to find a cure. His was going to be hard. "How is she?" Bonnie croaked anxiously letting Stefan into the house.

Stefan's forehead creased "She's turned." Stefan said simply staring down at the floor. A small gasp escaped Bonnie's lips, "Seriously?" she asked in disbelief. Stefan nodded. "How did she get vampire blood?" she said slipping onto the couch. "It's a long story, but I'm assuming you want to hear it." Stefan said sitting down next to her.

He glanced at this watch, 1.35pm. Elena wouldn't be up for at least another few hours Stefan thought settling in. "After we left, Elena was sort of fine. Still on edge but she had calmed down, Damon said they were just talking when she convinced him to leave to get a glass of water- she wanted time to think, anyway when Damon went upstairs Isobel was there." "Isobel turned her." Bonnie interrupted her jaw dropping. "Not quite." Continued Stefan, turning away from Bonnie's shocked face to talk to the ceiling. "While Damon was distracted- Katherine went down to the cellar and slit her wrists in front of Elena. And of course she couldn't resist." Another squeak escaped Bonnie's lips. Stefan couldn't look her in the eye; this was hard for him too. "When Damon went back down stairs two undead Elena's were lying on the floor. He couldn't tell them apart, Katherine acted identical to Elena and claimed that the real Elena had attacked her. Damon didn't know who to believe- anyway I'm not sure how it happened but the two Elena's ended up getting into quite an intense fight. That's when I came in." Stefan paused for a few moments then cleared his throat.

Bonnie was silent. "I saw Katherine holding a stake up to Elena's heart and reacted instantly – it never crossed my mind that the one with the stake could have been Elena." "She wasn't was she?" Bonnie interrupted again not being able to take the suspense. "I staked one of them and it turned out my instincts were right." Bonnie sat awe struck. Her mind struggling to process all of the new information. "So Elena's a vampire." She mumbled- the words sounding strange on her tongue. Stefan nodded. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, both of their minds at work. "How is she taking it?" Bonnie finally whispered. "She's ok; I think she feels very overwhelmed and venerable – which is normal. She hasn't feed yet, so that's my next task."Stefan shot a glance at the door. "Animal blood right?" Bonnie asked nervously, finding it hard to imagine sweet and charming Elena feeding off a human. "Of course." Stefan said "But I do have one favor to ask you… could you spell her a ring." He said, his words getting slowly quieter. Bonnie nodded- even if she was a vampire she was still Elena.

Suddenly the silence was broken with the piercing sound of Stefan's cell phone ringing. He answered after just one beat, the phone zapping to his ear with lightning speed "Elena?" He asked worriedly. He hadn't expected her to be awake yet. "No, it's Damon." Damon grunted on the other end- he sounded like he was running "Stefan, something's happened- a man came and kidnapped Elena." Damon said hurriedly- not even bothering to tease his brother. Stefan knew this was serious. "What do you mean kidnapped? Why weren't you watching her?" Stefan shouted down the phone. Bonnie's eye's widened at the word kidnapped. "How did he get into the house?" Stefan pressed on. Damon paused, "We weren't in the house, we were in the town square." "What?" asked Stefan his tone still rising- this was not what he needed right now "How?" "Elena woke up, and she was hungry so I gave her Katherine's ring and we went hunting, then we went to town and I taught her how to compel." Damon spat out so quickly that human ears could not decode it. "Then some bald freak jumped out of no where, called her Katherine and took off with her- I'm tracking the sent now." His voice was soaked with hatred.

Stefan remembered the man he had a brief encounter with in the woods who was looking for Katherine and shuddered. "Why didn't you call me when she woke up?"Stefan asked his temperature rising. "Because maybe for once she didn't want you rolling her in cotton wool." Damon said bitterly, even though he knew that wasn't really the reason. Stefan froze and looked a Bonnie- she had only been getting one side of the conversation and wore a very puzzled expression. "Hold on, I'll be right there." Stefan uttered. He slammed the phone shut and turned to bonnie. "Scrap the ring and start working on a locator spell. If I'm not back soon, do it without me." Stefan said hurriedly, and with that he was out the door.

Elena struggled furiously against the man's cold grip, but made no impact on the steely arm around her. Then suddenly they stopped moving. Elena was dropped to the dirt harshly, her palms scrapping along the forest floor; she looked up to see the sickly man staring over her "You are Katherine." He said, his eye's slightly crazed. Elena shook her head violently, "I'm not." She stuttered, trying to slowly back away from him. "**LIES**." He shouted, his cry slicing through the chill air. Birds flew away in the neighboring trees. "What do you want?" Elena said- trying her hardest to sound confident even though she was cowering on the floor. Suddenly the man's expression changed "I'm here for you darling." He said reaching down and tucking Elena's hair behind her ear, "Did you think I was just going to let you get away from me?" he said, poison lacing his tongue. "Who are you?" She asked her face still cold from his touch. "Don't play stupid with me my sweet Katherine. You know who I am, and you know I'm not leaving you until I get what I want." He crouched down till he was on Elena's level a smile creeping on to his face. Elena shut her eyes tightly- wishing that this nightmare would go away.

After a patch of frustrating nothingness, Damon's nose caught the undeniable sent of Elena in the air.


	13. The Taming of the Shrew

_Hey, sorry i haven't updated in a while, I've had school exams attempting to cram my brain with other things. _

_You know to the drill, please review and i will write faster and stronger. x_

Stefan tore into the bushes, running a faster speed than he ever thought was possible on animal blood. Trees swirled past him as he searched desperately for Elena's sweet sent in the air; he passed a group of male hikers so fast that all they felt was a gentle breeze brush past their legs. All Stefan could feel was a burning desire to know that Elena was safe, ripping him from the inside out. How could have Damon been so stupid, Stefan thought dodging past a rather large oak. He bought himself to a stop, Elena's sent was not near here and he honestly had no idea where he was going- he pulled out his phone and speed dialed Damon. He didn't pick up. Frustrated, Stefan hurled his phone at the oak tree- anger burning in his eyes. He rubbed his hands through his hair trying hard to think. The forest was the only place she could be, he thought, unless the vampire had taken up a residency here. That thought sent chills down his spine as his imagination exploded into a vision of him being not invited in to a home where Elena was locked inside.

Damon followed his hunting instincts, letting the combined smell of the metallic vampire and soft Elena merge together. The sent took a sharp left and he followed it- not wanting to waste anytime. The trail seemed to be leading him to a place he knew all to well, the remains of Fell's church. Damon swore to himself under his breath, it was just typical Elena that she would be kidnapped by some psychopath within the first day of being a vampire. His pace began to slow as he felt himself getting nearer to them. He flexed his muscles and cracked his neck. He wasn't going down without a fight.

He mans cold breath slipped down Elena's neck sending shivers down her spine. She drug her nails into the soil and squeezed her eyes closed; should she try to fight him off or stay put and wait for Damon to find her? - Two was better that one and she had no idea who she was dealing with here. Elena decided to stay put, although she was beginning to think her captor was mentally unwell as he began stroking her neck affectionately. She tried to block his presence out- counting to ten in her mind and then back down again but then she began hearing odd sounds, an unusual humming noise coming from his mouth. The cold vampire was muttering under his breath, with his eyes transfixed on Elena's radiant skin. _"O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel twig is straight and slender, and as brown in hue as hazel-nuts and sweeter than the kernels." _He was chanting at incomprehensible pace yet Elena found his word familiar. He kept going, his face drawing nearer to hers, he didn't seem to notice the way she was leaning as far back as possible, craning her neck away from him.

Then his weird muttering flicked a switch in her brain- he was quoting Shakespeare's 'The taming of the shrew' over and over again under his breath, she had studied this play last year in English and recognized the text. Why was he doing this? Elena thought puzzled. Her captor started to smile at her creepily as she remembered more about the play. All she could remember now was how the lead female…. Katherine…. was tricked into marrying Petruchio against her will. Elena took a deep breath. This man had been in love with Katherine and wanted to marry her. Unsure how to address him, she decided to call him Petruchio as it seemed to have some significance to him. She tried to act like what she knew of Katherine as she repositioned her body to face him. "Petruchio." She said, faking a confident smile. The man's eyes light up "Oh sweet sweet Katherine, how long I have searched for you." He said, running his cold hand through her hair. Elena wanted to scream – but she pushed on. "Now you have found me Petruchio what do you seek?" It was really pushing her acting ability to stare into his eyes and act as if she was confident, but she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't. "We are to be married. Katherine, you shall not escape me this time." Petruchio slipped a hand onto Elena's thigh and she couldn't help but wriggle with discomfort. Please Damon, hurry. She thought desperately, her gaze reaching out longingly into the forest surrounding them.

Damon could hear faint voices in the distance and tuned to them. His heart bet when he heard that one of them was undeniably Elena's musical tone. He began to decipher words. "Oh sweet sweet Katherine, how long I have searched for you." The voice of the unknown male vampire purred. This man obviously thought Elena was Katherine, Damon was relived it didn't sound like he was harming her "Now you have found me Petruchio what do you seek?" This was Elena's voice but she did not talk like herself, instead she sounded almost seductive. Damon began to worry, was this Elena? "We are to be married. Katherine, you shall not escape me this time." A growl escaped Damon's lips at the word married and she confidently strode into the clearing of Fell's church ahead of him. This would be easy, he thought to himself smugly- eyes taking in the scene in front of him.

The haunted pale man was pressing Elena against a crumpled brick wall, his long boney hand wrapping its self around Elena's thigh. Damon let lose a hiss and both vampire's heads whipped around to stare at him. Elena's face washed with relief at the sight of Damon. The bald vampire pushed himself back from Elena and stood up, his eyes locked with Damon's and a small snarl slipped through his lips. "And who are you?" He asked eyeing Damon. "Who the fuck are you more like!" Damon snapped back. Speeding till he was face to face with the foreigner. "I am here to marry fair Katherine." He spat at Damon, his eye's widening.

Elena had pulled herself off the floor and was beginning to reposition herself in a spot where she felt less venerable. "Oh no you're not." Damon shouted, his fangs popping out as he reached to crush the vampire's neck. The other vampire unleashed his fangs, Elena gasped to see that they were at least 3 centimeters longer than Damon's and a pearly white. Both vampires engaged in combat, fighting fire with fire as they danced around the clearing. Usually Elena's eyes would not have been able to keep up with this, but her new sharper eyes followed every step. It looked like the bald vampire was a lot stronger than Damon but some how Damon had the upper hand, Damon fought with more passion- each of this moves strong and fast.

Then things took a turn for the worse, Petruchio pinned Damon to the ground, his long white body positioned over him. The vampire wrapped his long skeleton like fingers round Damon's neck and began to squeeze, Damon wriggled under the pressure, trying to break free but he was stuck in his grip. Elena had no idea what she was doing until she was doing it, a narrow tree branch wrapped in her hand she came up behind him. She didn't know her own strength yet, and as she held the branch in position fears flashed through her mind of staking both of them in one go.

Elena had paused for one second too long and soon Petruchio had left Damon on the ground and was in her face. He breathed in her ear "What is this? In love with someone who isn't me." His voice sounded bitter. He snatched the branch from he grip and pressed it to her chest. Elena stood frozen, her eyes wide with panic. She didn't want to die again. "You said you would always love me. You promised!" His voice was growing from a whisper to a shout, his knuckles whitening as his grip and the branch tightened. The man's other hand reached up and tugged out a small clump of Elena's hair- his pressed it to his mouth as she winced.

Things felt like they went in slow motion as she saw the branch begin to plummet for her heart. She squeezed her eye's closed and held her breath. Elena hoped it would be quick. A few seconds past and she felt nothing pierce her skin, maybe she was already gone. Quick and painless just as she wanted it. Elena opened her eyes slowly, until it hit her that she was still in Fells church. Damon dragged the limp body of Petruchio in his arms; he was trying to take the body away before she could see it. He didn't want to scare her anymore than she already was.

Out of nowhere sobs began to heave from Elena's chest. Her whole body began to shake as she released loud cries into the air. It had all been too much. She felt like the rollercoaster would never end. In two days her life had spiraled downwards, only to be brought back up again by Damon, but then smashed to the ground again. She didn't know how much more she could take. Then she felt Damon's warm body press against hers, she drug her face into his chest and let lose more sobs- she felt like she was screaming into a pillow. He just held her silently, his hand running through her hair. She kept going, emotions dripping from her like sweat. Damon closed his eyes two- if he was one second later he would have lost her, and then what? He would have never felt this. He would have never been able to hold her properly before she was gone.

Ten minuets had gone by and her sobbing began to slow. Damon didn't want it to end, even though she was miserable an amazing feeling trickled though his body. He had to have her. This would not be the last time he held her in his arms. He thought back to that little peck she had given him earlier that day- it gave him the strength to let go. "Take me home." She said, tears still streaming down her face- Damon knew she didn't mean the boarding house as he scooped her into his arms and began to carry her to safety.

Three scents all hit Stefan at once as he stood at Fells church. Elena, Damon and that deathly vampire he had meet yesterday. He shuddered, eye's darting around until they landed on a small brown heap on the floor. He picked it up, his fingers wrapping around a clump of Elena's soft hair. Stefan looked to the sky and let out a thunderous roar.


	14. Natural Instincts

Elena had fallen asleep in Damon's arms. Her sobbing had stopped and a wave of fatigue overpowered her. Damon slowed his pace, enjoying the way that the shape of Elena's body seemed to slip perfectly into his. Her breathing was shallow and steady, and her lips slightly parted- if it wasn't for the absence of a heart beat Damon would have swore she was still human. His slow pace turned into a walk, he made every second last as he approached her home. She was beginning to stir slightly, her fingers wriggling and her eyes beginning to flicker. Damon stopped her, pressing his lips to her ear he whispered gently, "Go to sleep." A tiny murmur escaped her lips as she slipped back in unconsciousness. Damon paused outside the door of her house and stretched his hearing to check for any threats. The house was silent.

In a few seconds Damon lay Elena down slowly, piece by piece her body flopping onto the bed. Damon's arms felt empty without her. He picked up a folded blanket from the other side of the room and draped it over Elena, even though she was not cold- everyone felt safer under the covers.

Leaning against the window sill, Damon watched her quietly for a few moments. Relief washed over his body as it began to settle in that everything was ok, no one was hurt but Damon couldn't help his mind from wandering back to how if he was half a second late he would have lost her. Forever. As an attempt to distract himself Damon started focusing in on Elena's dreams.

At first he was distracted by the colour, his dreams were always murky and dark but Elena's were illuminated with bright pastel shades and glowing surfaces, he focused hard to try and distinguish what was happening. A woman was sitting on a park bench with flowers at her feet, she must have been in her forties, her smile was creased with thousands of tiny wrinkles and her hair was dried at the ends causing it to puff outwards. Somehow this woman reminded him of Elena. It wasn't until the women looked up and he got a good look at Jeremy's deep set brown eye's that he realized that his was Elena's adoptive mother. The women reached down and picked a flower off the floor, plucking it's petals out one at a time "He loves you, he loves you not." Elena's mother teased, smile towards her as if it was a cheesy family movie. Elena blushed, "Mum…" She moaned tugging and the hem of her mothers trousers. She looked young in her dream, her eyes were not drooping from lack of sleep and her skin looked like it had spent a long time absorbing sun. She no longer looked like this because of us, Damon thought, remembering all of the long nights Elena had spent copped up inside the boarding house.

Then the dream began to change, the color vanished and the smiling face faded away. Now he was in the boarding house cellar watching Katherine peer at him through the bars on the door. She flashed that all too familiar smirk as she produced a knife and dragged a long slit down her wrist, deep red blood dripping onto the floor. Damon pulled himself from Elena's dream as regret stabbed him for ever leaving her downstairs alone. He cursed under his breath.

Staying as far away from Elena's dreams as he could, he moved himself to the other side of the room. All Elena had eaten so far was that silly deer he caught her, he thought about finding her a meal to comfort her when she woke up but couldn't bear to leave her alone. Who knew how many psycho's Katherine had had wrapped around her finger. As much as it pained him to do it, he knew he had to call Stefan.

This was odd usually he picked up first ring, thought Damon as he stabbed at the redial button. It hit Damon that Stefan had no idea Elena was ok, and even though Damon would usually love sending Stefan into a frenzy, he realized that that probably wasn't the best idea right now.

Damon decided to send a text just incase Stefan really did check his phone. Not that Damon wanted him to be here but he could already tell that that would be what Elena wanted.

'Elena is safe.'

Short and sweet, that's how he liked it, anyway he would fill Stefan in on the details when he got there which he was pretty sure would be soon. Damon shot a glance at the window, almost expecting him to come in any moment. Instead a sharp scream pierced his ears causing him to jump. Elena was screaming in her sleep, her breath ripping out of here in rags. She tossed; her eyes still stapled shut as the clawed the blankets away from her. Damon rushed to her side, placing a cold hand on her back. "Elena?" He said trying to break her from her bad dream.

"Stefan." She croaked, swinging her body around and wrapping her arms tight around him, her face nuzzling into Damon's chest. Her dream was till tormenting her and all she wanted was right now was comfort. Damon froze, not sure how to break it to her that he didn't know where Stefan was and he wasn't Stefan, he was just about to pry her off him when her mouth made it's way to his.

Her lips felt like they were sending electric shocks through his system. She grasped at his shirt, pulling her self closer to him and letting her knees slip either side of this waist. It was Damon's natural instinct to kiss her back. After a few seconds he forgot that she thought he was Stefan, and began getting into it, his hands sliding slowly up and down her back sending chills up her spine. Their lips fought for dominance as he lent into her. She broke away from his lips, her mouth moving toward his earlobe- her hand sliding up to his hair. His hair. Underneath Elena's finger tips was not thick Stefan hair. She pulled away, opening her eyes to see Damon's smug face.

She let lose another scream, his one more of a shocked squeal than anything. Damon laughed, licking his lips to get the final taste of Elena into his mouth. Her jaw fell open. She had been kissing Damon this whole time. She pushed her self off the bed and backed away from him, running her fingers through her mattered hair. "Was it really that bad?" Damon said, wiggling his eyebrows and making himself comfortable on the bed. Elena's jaw was still almost hitting the floor. Sure, she had pecked Damon before but this was different. When she was kissing him she felt like every hair on her body was standing on edge. She felt like lightning was tickling her toes. She felt like her heart had begun beating again. Elena hung her head in shame, she didn't know what to do; Damon had made her feel like this. He had kissed her back. It was his fault. Elena's instincts took over as she picked up a flower vase from her bedside table and flung it at him.

He caught it with one hand. Amusement to Elena's reaction still all over his face. She picked up a lamp and hurled it, this time using her full strength; he caught it again, gently setting it down on the mattress beside the vase. Frustration was gripping Elena as she took a framed picture of a horse off the wall and chucked it. This time to Elena's surprise Damon ducked out of the way letting the picture shatter against the wall. Steam looked like it was coming out of her ears as she glared at Damon. "What?" He said, jumping onto the bed again "I have always hated that picture." Damon couldn't resist teasing her. Even though he knew at the moment that her new born vampire emotions were spiraling out of control, Elena was ridiculously cute when she was angry.

"What's going on up here?" Jenna said entering the room with a puzzled expression. There was a moment of silence before everything kicked into action. Hunger mixed with anger possessed Elena reminding her of the lack for food she had had and she sprung herself for Jenna's neck, knocking a table out of the way as she went for her. Jenna let out a shout as Elena's fangs popped out right before her eyes- Elena looking more like the devil than her niece. Veins coverd Elena's whole face as her fangs lingered a few millimeters away from Jenna's hot succulent neck.


	15. Next Question

_Veins seemed to cover Elena's whole face as her fangs lingered a few millimetres away from Jenna's hot succulent neck._

Damon grabbed Elena by the scruff of the neck and sent her flying across to the other side of the room with one swift movement of his arm; she hit the wall, making a large dent and then collapsing into a shocked heap. Jenna stood paralyzed with fear, pressed against the wall. Damon only had a few seconds to act, he scooped up Elena and dumped her on the bathroom floor in the next room, locking both the doors so it would be hard for her to escape. He turned to Jenna, she still hadn't moved- he focused his eyes on her; his pupils dilating. "You are to forget anything happened." He breathed, she nodded. "You never even came upstairs, you are going to go now to Ric's house and stay there until I call you on the phone. Do you understand?" She nodded again, "I understand." And with that she set off.

Elena sat on the bathroom floor, her head in her hands. The veins were faded from her face and her fangs neatly tucked away. She looked up at him teary eyed "I nearly killed Jenna." She croaked. Another tear slipped from her face and Damon began to wonder how many tears she would cry before they began to dry up. He sat himself down on the cold tiles next to her and wiped the tear off her cheek. Elena was beginning to appreciate the fact that Damon had been there for her thought out his whole ordeal; he had been there when she fought with Katherine, he had shown her a good time when she was feeling miserable, he had taught her to compel, shown her how to feed, he had saved her from that freak, he had carried her home in tears. And now he had saved her from what could have been the biggest regret of her life.

She reached out and held his hand.

Damon tried to flash her a comforting smile "You didn't nearly kill Jenna, in fact- you didn't even draw any blood." Elena shook her head. "But I would have if you weren't there." They sat in silence, feeling connected to each other through the bond their hands held. "I know what you need." Damon said getting up and turning on the shower. Hot steamy water immediately began to rain down, making a small cloud of mist. "What, a shower?" Elena said seceptical, standing up. Damon shrugged "It always makes me feel better." Elena cast a look towards the water- he was right, it did look appealing. "Only if im allowed to ask you questions." Elena said kicking off her shoes. Damon raised an eyebrow, now this sounded good. A white jumper hit the floor and Elena turned to Damon as she began to unbutton her jeans. "Do you mind?" she asked, turning him. "I won't look." He said turning away. That was a lie, he thought to himself when Elena turned to the side he cocked his head to the side taking in her beautiful form.

Her skin was like honey and he marveled that she ever boverd covering it with stupid clothes, and her bum; well that was just something unbelievable altogether. Damon had always been a bum man, loving women's bottoms more than anything else and yes, he had appreciated Elena's bottom before but now he was seeing it really. A cute little button that popped out from her slight form, making the curve of the lower back look soft and delicate. When she reached to remove her underwear Damon turned away- he wasn't going to completely ignore her wishes. The sound of Elena's body breaking the flow of the water meant Damon could turn around. He sat himself down on the toilet lid and lent back trying to get comfortable. He should enjoy this moment. "Alright shoot." He said placing his hands behind this head. Elena thought for a moment in the shower. "Why am I so emotionally unstable, is it the vampire thing or am I just losing it?" Damon was tempted to say she was losing it but instead he told the truth. "All new born vampires struggle to control their emotions, it's just something that comes with the job." "Will it get better?" She asked eagerly. "With time." Said Damon, thinking back to how long it took him to be able to master him emotions. "Ok next question." Elena said, enjoying the hard jets of water pounding against her skin. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Elena asked slowly, wondering if she would like the answer or not. Damon paused. "Next question." He said, knowing now what not the time to tell her he loved her.

She fumed for a bit but then moved on. "I know this sounds silly." She said looking down at her feet. "But will I be able to have children?" Damon bit his lip. He shook his head, he had thought about this before too. "I don't think it's possible." He said. Elena let out a long breath. Damon didn't realize that that mattered to her. Elena's next question came out fast. "Where is Stefan?" Elena felt like it had been years since she had seen him. So much had happened. "Looking for you I assume. I tried calling him but his phone is dead." "You did?" Elena asked sounding surprised. "He loves you." Damon said softy, talking both about himself and Stefan at the same time. "Can I feed soon?" Elena said, her emotions changing rapidly. "We can go now if you want." Damon said chucking a towel in Elena's direction. She caught in and wrapped it around her moist body. Damon licked his lip.

Stefan's body was pumped with adrenaline as he ripped open the door and sped inside the house. "Oh, Stefan, it's nice of you to join me." Purred Isobel from the thick antique sofa she was sitting on. Stefan turned to her, his eyes very wide "WHERE IS ELENA?" he shouted, moving with inhuman speed to place a hand on Isobel's neck. "Ummm, I don't know." Isobel said genuinely, trying to wriggle back from Stefan's grip. He moved closer to her, "Who is that man looking for Katherine?" "Man? What man?" Isobel was becoming slightly scared, this was not the Stefan knew of. She wondered if he was on human blood. All she knew is that she hadn't taken Elena. "Don't play stupid with me Isobel." Stefan tightened his grip. She gulped. "I don't know where she is!" Isobel was getting sick of Stefan's hand on her neck and she threw him back off her and onto the other side of the couch. "I don't know where your precious Elena is, all I'm doing is sitting here thinking about what I'm going to do with out Katherine. I haven't even bothered to think about my little fluff of a daughter. Please get out of my house." Isobel said trying to pin Stefan down. Frustration and rage took over Stefan, he placed his hands either side of Isobel's head and tore it right off. A clean break, apart from the crimsoned blood splattering all over himself and the walls. Her body fell limply to the floor. For the first time in a long time Stefan cursed out loud. He had just killed Elena's mother, and he still had no idea where Elena was. Stefan felt like a new born vampire his emotions ripping past his judgment. Then Stefan's gaze collided with a phone.

He called the boarding house, his body yearning for a reply. His hands were still shaking. The phone did not pick up and Stefan ripped out a small hunk of his hair in frustration. He tried Elena's home, his nerves standing on edge. It picked up first ring. "Hello?" Damon's smooth voice rang loud and clear in Stefan's ear- the only time in a while he had actually wanted to hear Damon's voice. "Where is she?" Stefan whispered, afraid of the answer being I don't know. Damon frowned slightly; his brother was totally going to kill his and Elena's bonding time. "She's upstairs getting dressed." He sighed. The tension in Stefan's body released. That was all Stefan needed to hear. He left the room in a flash, leaving Isobel's decapitated body on the floor.

**Hey guys, sorry about killing Isobel so quickly it's just that I wanted a reason for Elena to get mad a Stefan for a little more Delena bonding time. (Although Stefan won't be out of the picture altogether.) Please review, I haven't been getting many recently and my heart sinks every time I check.**

**P.s I don't mind suggestions about what you guys want to happen, I have an idea but I'm always open to new things.**


	16. Leaving

_in Stefan's body released. That was all Stefan needed to hear. He left the room in a flash, leaving Isobel's decapitated body on the floor._

Elena and Damon returned home from a very quick hunting trip, and although Elena's hunger was not completely satisfied she felt more in control of herself. She still shivered every time she thought of what could have happened to Jenna- Thank god for Damon. When they entered the house Elena looked around eagerly, Stefan was not there yet. Damon grabbed Elena by the hand again and led her to the lounge, sitting her down on the couch and her flopping down next to her. "You need to relax for a bit." He said softly flicking the TV on- At first it was some dramatic show about doctors in a hospital with blood flying everywhere, Damon changed the channel before she noticed. To his surprise Elena's head rested down on Damon's shoulder and she wriggled into the couch trying to find a comfortable spot. Damon noted again how Elena's head was a perfect fit for his body.

She closed her eyes and tried to just let the gentle noises of the TV put her to sleep. After a few minutes she was out cold. Damon was happy about this, he was also happy that when Stefan burst through the door in a few minutes, there would be nothing for him to save and he wouldn't seem like the hero. After a few more minutes of watching the show about some band trying to make it big Damon's eyelid began to flicker shut too. Damon hadn't slept in two days straight either and even he needed his sleep. His head sank on top of Elena's and he let sleep possess his body.

Stefan stood outside the house, confused over how all he could hear was two shallow breaths and no talking. He entered cautiously, imaging them both to be half dead, passed out on the floor after some attack. Stefan prepared himself for battle, his body pumping with human blood he had drank before he killed Isobel. He needed his full strength to protect Elena. Stefan froze when he came to the lounge, taking in the scene in front of him.

Damon and Elena were asleep on the couch together. Elena's weight was tucked into Damon and Damon's head was placed carefully on top of hers. Both of them had relaxed expressions, Elena's mouth parted slightly to reveal a small pool of dribble forming on the lips. The TV had been turned down but was still flashing images of some rock group flicking their hair around on stage. This had not been what Stefan expected at all. Just then Damon slowly opened one eye, taking him Stefan's jealous expression. He smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Damon." Stefan said sternly, his voice loud enough to make Elena start to stir. "Shhhhh." Damon whispered like a school teacher telling off a pupil. This was the most comfortable sleep Damon had had in years even though they were on a couch, Damon was pissed off that he now had to move. Careful to not wake Elena, Damon slipped his hand under her head and inch by inch lowered her down so that she was lying flat on the couch. She wriggled a bit but continued to sleep. Damon followed Stefan into the kitchen, for a chat he knew was coming.

"Tell me everything that happened." Stefan said, leaning up against the fridge; his voice low, aware of the fact that Elena needed sleep. "Apart from me sleeping with your girlfriend?" Damon teased, wiggling his eyebrows. Stefan's forehead creased and his hands balled into fists. Damon decided to fill him in from the start wondering whether to leave in the details about the moments him and Elena had shared together. "From the start." Stefan butted in just as Damon was about to speak."Well, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much…" Damon began mockingly. "DAMON!" Stefan growled at him. Damon wiped his smirk off and decided to just state the facts very quickly."You left. Then I gave Elena Katherine's ring. We went hunting. Then I was teaching her to compel when some bald guy just grabbed he and ran off with her. I couldn't find her for a while. I called you. I found her. I killed the fool. Took Elena home. She nearly killed Jenna. I stopped her. We went on another little hunt. We fell asleep. Then you came in." Damon said the whole thing very fast with no inflection in his voice. This was a surprise to Stefan who expected him to draw out every detail to annoy him. Damon turned to go back to the couch and continue his sleep with Elena. Stefan grabbed his shoulder. "Hold on." He barked. Damon let out and annoyed breath. "What?" "Why didn't you tell me you had Katherine's ring before I left." He was obviously pissed off. "Because maybe I wanted to spend time with Elena." Damon fired back honestly. "You don't get to spend time with her." Stefan fired. "What are you? Her father? Give her some freedom goddammit!" Damon said beginning to get angry. "I know what's best for her!" Stefan shouted letting his emotion take control again and pushing Damon backwards so that he fell on the counter top. "Do you really? If you knew what was best for her why did you leave her anyway? What couldn't you have taken her with you to talk to her own aunt or her best friend?" Damon was pressing his face right up to Stefan's face, taking advantage that he was an inch taller than him. Someone cleared their throat on the other side of the room.

Stefan and Damon's heads whipped around to see Elena standing in the door way. She had been listening to their fight and they didn't even notice. She looked upset. "Damon is right Stefan." She said looking down. "Why did you leave me?" Stefan's eyes bulged. He sped to Elena wrapping his hands around her. "Baby." He whispered soothingly. To Damon's delight she didn't return his hug. Stefan took a step back. "You could have told me you didn't want me to leave." He said, hurt. "You didn't ask me." She said, still looking down. "Why couldn't I have been to one to talk to Jenna or Bonnie?" Elena's eyes were filling with tears again. "Because…." Stefan couldn't finish his sentence. Because he was used to doing things for her? Because he didn't want to worry her? All of these reasons weren't good enough. "I want you to leave." She said quietly. "What?" cried Stefan, panicked. "Please leave." She muttered. Stefan tried to embrace her again. She dodged him. "You heard her, LEAVE!" Damon said happily opening the front door for his brother. Stefan grabbed his forehead in frustration and stormed out the house.

As soon as Stefan was gone, Elena ran back into the lounge and dived onto the couch. Damon followed her. "I just want to go to sleep again." She whimpered. "Get away from this." Damon nodded sitting back down next to her a stroking her hair. He was please she didn't wriggle away from his touch. "I have a better idea." Damon smiled. "What?" Elena said looking up at his smiling face. "Why don't we take another little trip?"


	17. Raindrops

_"I have a better idea." Damon smiled. "What?" Elena said looking up at his smiling face. "Why don't we take another little trip?"_

The car purred as they made a sharp left, the cracked roads not taking Damon's heavy four wheel drive too well. "Where are we going?" Elena asked, trying to make out darks shapes outside the tinted window. "Away." Damon replied simply. It had become apparent to Damon that in the last few days Elena had been reaching her breaking point. It felt good to be taking her away from everything.

A silence rolled between them as both of their minds buzzed with thoughts. Damon broke it. "Alright, here are the rules." Damon said, driving without looking at the road. Elena raised an eyebrow "There are rules?" She asked curiously. "Number one, Saint Stefan must not be mentioned during the trip… and if this rule is broken there will be punishment." Elena laughed- Damon's face was more like a cartoon characters than a vampires as he said this. "Punished how?" Elena asked playfully. He paused for a few seconds to glance at the road "You have to kiss me." He said flashing and alligator grin.

Elena laughed again; she was beginning to like his teasing. "And rule number two?" Elena asked, leaning back into her seat. "Number two, during the trip I am allowed to ask you as many questions as i want and you have to answer them truthfully." This was not what Elena had expected "Why?" She asked. "Because I want to get to know you better." He said very quietly his grin slipping. Elena's stomach twisted. "Oh yeah, and rule number three, is I get to pick what we do."He said. Elena pouted "What? Why?" she grumbled- this rule sounded unfair to her. Damon regained his cocky face "Because I know how to have a good time." He said wiggling his eyebrows. "And I don't?" Elena shot back with a pissed off expression; she was cute when she was angry.

Damon ignored her last comment and settled back into his seat. This was going to be a long ride. "Ok, my first question. What's your favorite food?" Elena was surprised it wasn't something tricky- she replied instantly "Pasta." This pleased Damon, Pasta was pretty much his specialty. "And your favorite book?" Elena thought for a few seconds "Probably Alice in wonderland."

"Hum interesting." Damon mumbled. "What?"Elena cried defensively "It's just that I was expecting Pride and the Prejudice or something like that."He said. Elena smirked- she liked surprising people. "Am I allowed to ask you questions?" Elena said eagerly. Damon was hesitant "I suppose so…"

"Well then I ask you those two questions back." She said. She didn't just want to talk about herself the whole time. "That's easy." Smiled Damon "Food equals Blood, and Book equals Blackwood farm by Anne Rice." Damon said not even pausing to think. "I was going to say you weren't allowed to say blood." Elena said wanting a different answer. "Ok then, my other favorite food is spinach." He said looking into her milky chocolate eyes. She smiled and nodded, "Ask me more." She said energetically- she liked this game. "Favorite place in the world?" He said. She paused looking down "I don't know." Elena replied "I have never left America." Damon's jaw dropped. "Seriously?" He gasped. Elena looked slightly embarrassed "Yes, seriously." Damon closed his mouth not wanting her to feel bad. He would have to work on changing that one now wont he.

The pair continued on quizzing each other until the sun began to fade behind the hills. Elena still had no idea where they were going. "Ok, last question." Damon said looking at the sleepy expression on Elena's face. "Shoot." She muttered, closing her eye lids and letting her body absorb the vibrations of the car. Damon was taking awhile thinking of this one and Elena slowly began to slip from consciousness.

"Could you love me?"

He finally squeezed out, not wanting to look at Elena in fear of seeing her face wrinkle with disgust.

The only sound was the purr of the motor. Damon asked again. "Could you love me?" The second time was easier, he spoke with more confidence. There was no reply. Damon swiveled his head around and saw why he was getting no answer to the question that had took him so long to squeeze out. Elena's head was pressed against the window, her eye lids sealed together and her lips in her signature half open, sleeping position. Damon gave the steering wheel a slight punch. "Dammit." He cursed under his breath.

Damon pulled the car into a shabby motel for them to crash for the night. He glanced at the near by road signs, they were only 4 hours away from their destination. He got up from the car, leaving Elena asleep inside. The inside of the motel was somehow worse than the outside and Damon was beginning to regret pulling up here, but there was no where else to go. He would have to make it up to Elena later. "Can I use your phone?" Damon said to the middle aged woman behind the counter. She handed it over to him without even looking up.

"Hello, Jacewater Lodge, how may I help you?" A chirpier woman called from the other end of the phone. "Hi, I'd like to make a booking for the grand please." Damon said using his most persuasive voice. "Oh, I'm sorry- that's booked ahead for the next three months." The woman replied. "Well can you just tell your manager that Mr. Salvatore is on the phone." Damon said, wishing he could compel just with his voice."Ok…" The woman paused uncertainly. He heard her voice faintly in the background "Dug, there's a man called Mr. Salvatore on the phone." She called out. "Give it here" He man said snatching the phone off the woman. "Ah, Mr. Salvatore. You want the grand?" He said. Damon could even hear the fake smile in this voice. "Yes, can you have it ready for tomorrow?" said Damon. "Certainly." Dug replied like a servant rather than a lodge manger. With that Damon hung up the phone.

Damon went back to the car and picked up Elena. For a vampire she sure did sleep a lot Damon thought but then he remembered how tried he was in the beginning. He decided not to wake her as he carried her into the scummy room. Damon had not put up a fight when the receptionist told him that they only had a single bedroom left, this would be interesting. Lying Elena down slowly, Damon removed her shoes and jeans, wondering if she would be mad at him in the morning for removing her pants with out her permission. Damon smiled to himself, looking at her ridiculous panties covered in pictures of frogs and love hearts. Some times he forgot she was only seventeen, she acted so mature. He wrapped her into the blanket and crashed down next to her, almost enjoying the lack of space he was given to sleep. One of his arms wrapped itself around her waist as he wandered off into his dreams.

Elena woke first in the morning, feeling Damon's heavy arm draped over her. She opened her eyes taking in the view in front of her- the room was untidy with a stained couch pushed up against the wall and the windows were coated in a thin layer of dirt. Elena lifted up Damon's arm and wriggled away from him, awhile ago this would have been hard for her but now she barely felt a struggle lifting his limp arm. She stood up and looked down to find she was wearing no pants. "Damon." She cursed under her breath as she slipped her jeans back on. It was worse enough that he had got them a single bed- technically she hadn't broken up with Stefan and this all felt sort of dangerous.

Tangled brown hair was the first thing Elena spotted as she looked in the cracked mirror. Damon sat up, his arms begin to feel the cold without Elena. "The sleepy head is up." Damon said, getting out of bed with lightning speed and jumping to her side. "I don't know- I feel really tired nowadays." She said tugging at her head. "All new vampires get that, it will pass." He said reassuringly as he opened the door "Lets get out of this shit hole." He smiled grabbing Elena's hand for the second time and leading her outside. "Now… Breakfast?" He said pulling Elena through an open window in the hallway and into the bush outside.

Back in the car Elena felt warm, as Damon had made her drink as much animal blood as she could get her hands warning her that there wouldn't be much where they were going. Damon still felt hungry as all of this animal blood recently wasn't really filling him up. He put up with it for Elena. Elena's eyes bulged as Damon finally made the turn off into their location. A group of over the top lodges bordering onto the sea. A smile light up her face at the smell of the water and Damon high fived himself mentally. Success.

Damon chucked his keys to a lanky hotel assistant as he walked inside then rested his elbows on the marble counter. Elena laughed at his over the top confidence. A short man in a too tight suit raised his arms as he greeted them "MR SALVATORE." He shouted his thick eyebrows rising too. "Here are the keys to the grand." He said, still too loudly presenting him some keys. Damon thanked him and dragged Elena to a door on the right, impatient to get to the room.

Elena wasn't surprised that it was the biggest building of the five, they way they treated Damon meant he must of stayed here for a great while before. Elena almost choked as she walked inside. She pulled her grip away from Damon and crossed her arms. "Damon we cannot stay here." She said looking around. "Why not?" He asked setting down her bags on a near by sofa. "Because I will not have you spending a million dollars a night just on somewhere to sleep. It's ridiculous." Damon was amused by her reaction- most women would have enjoyed the lodge and racked up a massive room service bill too. "Hey, I'm running this trip. It's one of the rules remember?" Elena let out a sigh. There was no way she was going to win this one. "Anyway, you'll like it once you see this." He said striding into the lounge and opening a triple set of French doors. The doors lead on to a porch that connected directly to the beach. Elena couldn't help but let out a little squeak of excitement. She loved the sea.

It was an over cast day with not a single peep of sun slipping through the grey blanket of clouds- but that didn't stop Elena from stripping down into her childish underwear and talking a mad dash for the water. Damon chased her, dropping his pants and shirt as he ran. Soon he was in nothing but his black silk boxers and socks. Elena giggled at the way he forgot to take his socks off. Damon caught her before she hit the water and swung her into his arms- she wriggled pounding her fist against his chest. "Let go of me." She squealed, wriggling in his arms. "If you wish." said Damon- turning her around and dumping her head first into the water. He laughed at the way her mouth seemed to be frozen into a perfect o as she came back up from the water. Her hair was darker when it was wet and it clung to her body perfectly- showing off her delicate curves. Damon got into the water himself until he was at the same depth as Elena, although the water only came up to his waist. Elena and Damon swam for a bit, taking advantage of the way that the waves rolled against them.

Elena marveled at her surroundings. The sky was gray, the water was gray, the sand was gray- everything blurred into one marble paradise. She loved it.

Then the rain began to fall. This rain was different to what Elena was used to- the raindrops were big, like silvery bullets falling from the sky and the rain fell like someone had just flicked a switch, it all came down in one big sheet for miles around. No wind meant the rain fell straight down and Elena loved it. "Do you want to go back in?" Damon asked as he watched Elena staring at the sky her chin tilted upwards. "Are you kidding?" Elena asked swimming over to him. "This is my favorite kind of rain." Damon smiled, it was his too.

"Everything here is perfect." Elena whispered to him, her body coming dangerously close to his. She loved the way the water raining down on him made his hair fall clumsily out of shape and his eyelashes thick with moisture. He looked down at her, closing the distance between them so that there bodies where touching "I'm glad you like it." He said, tenderly brushing a lock of her hair from her face. "But I know what will make it more perfect." She said, her body feeling wired by the sensation of the rain thumping down on her back. "What?" He almost breathed- trying ridiculously hard not to make love to her then and there.

"Stefan." Elena mumbled sexily, placing a hand on Damon's chest. Damon was confused, had she just confused him for his brother? Way to kill a moment- but then it all made sense as Elena bought her soft pink lips to his. Rule number one, Damon thought to himself happily as he presses his lips into hers.

**Hey guy, it's raining like hell over here (New Zealand) so i thought i would add it to this chapter. I feel sad when i say this but, please review, you guys know it makes my day.**


	18. That Girl

_Rule number one, Damon thought to himself happily as he presses his lips into hers._

The kiss only lasted a few seconds before Elena pulled her lips away from his. Damon's eyes stayed closed, his body not wanting the moment to end. "What am I doing?" Elena asked herself angrily, taking a few awkward steps away from Damon. Elena grabbed her hair in frustration and looked up at the sky. "I AM NOT KATHERINE." She shouted, as if it was the skies fault. Damon opened his eyes slowly- their first real kiss and it had only lasted a few seconds, he held back his annoyance watching Elena, her face crumpled with despair. Rain was still falling down heavily around them, shattering the waters clear surface and bouncing off Elena's lifted face. "What am I doing?" Elena repeated more to herself than anyone, this time more a whisper- her emotions once again having a war in her head.

"You're kissing me." Damon said moving closer to her this time his hand grabbing her elbow. She whipped her body around until there were only about three centimeters between them. "But I'm not that girl." Elena gulped, her eyes round. "I am not the girl that kisses her boyfriends' brother or runs away from her problems or struggles to control herself." She looked down at her wet body- beginning to despise the fact that she was in nothing but a thin bra and panties. Elena felt vulnerable. She honestly didn't know who or what she was anymore. Damon shook his head. "No, you are not that girl." He said, lightly placing a hand on her chin and turning her head up to look at him. "You are the girl that follows her heart." He said softl.

Elena winced, "Stop being so nice to me!" she cried "I don't deserve it." Elena began wading out of the water, the rainfall was starting to thin out. "Elena wait!" Called Damon. He didn't want the moment to end like this. "What?" She said turning around slowly, her arms wrapped around her own body.

"I LOVE YOU." Damon shouted, and with that the rain stopped falling.

Stefan saw Damon's obnoxious black four wheel drive in the car park and nodded to himself. He knew he would take her here. In the reception Stefan waited impatiently, his mind buzzing with things to say to Elena, things that would win her back. "We'll just phone Mr. Salvatore and he can buzz you through." Smiled the receptionist, her eyes scanning along Stefan's body greedily. Stefan sighed, locking eye contact with the receptionist. His pupils dilated. "I'll just go though thank you." Said Stefan under his breath. The receptionist nodded, pressing a button that unlocked the door on the right hand side of him.

The windows were slightly fogged as Stefan looked through into the warm golden lounge room; it was beginning to get dark outside and the inside of the lodge was glowing with long deep shadows. Elena sat cross-legged by the fire, a thick mug in her hands, she sucked on it subconsciously; her hair wrapped up in a fluffy white towel. Damon entered the room and sat down on the couch, swinging his legs up and placing them on the arm rest, he lay back getting comfortable as he watched Elena's delicate face. His hair was still moist.

"Did you mean what you said?" Elena asked staring into the fire, her skin glowing a faint orange. "Of course." He replied softly. "Then for how long?" Elena said in the same tone- her eyes still focused on the flames. "Too long." Damon admitted this body stiffening. Something wasn't right.

Elena sensed this change in mood and turned around to look at him sharply. "What's wrong?" Elena asked, her eyes scanning the room for any danger. Damon sat up and inhaled the air around them, an all too familiar sent pierced the air. "Stefan." Damon called his eyes locking with the murky green ones that lingered outside the window.

Stefan was in the house in a flash leaving the front door wide open, he knelt down next to Elena on the rug his face level with hers. "Elena I'm sorry." He begged. "Forgive me." Elena paused, this had all happened extremely fast and now Stefan's face was inches away from hers, she expected her heart to jump when she looked into his round tender eyes but instead she felt empty inside. "I don't know if I can." She whispered softly to the delight of Damon who stood a few meters away, begging to interfere at any moment. "But Elena, I love you." Whispered Stefan as if those three words would fix everything. She nodded "I love you too Stefan but," Elena paused and saw Damon's face wrinkle out of the corner of her eye. "But I don't know if I can ever get back what we had. I feel like our connection is slipping away." She said, unable to keep looking into his eyes. Stefan's face crumbled "I can fix it." He pleased desperately, moving so close to her he was almost on her lap.

A long silence filled the room and Elena store down at the floor. Damon was dying to grab Stefan by the neck and chuck him out the door never to see him again; Stefan sat eagerly awaiting Elena's reply. She took a long drawn out breath before she looked up again. "I don't know if I want it to be fixed." She said so quietly that only vampire hearing could have picked it up.

Stefan felt as if Elena had just ripped open his heart open with her bare hands, he stumbled backwards struggling to cope with what he had just heard. How could he go on without Elena? Elena watched Stefan's face twist with agony at her words and her eyes began to flood with tears. She had never meant to hurt anyone like this. "I'm sorry." She whispered as two perfectly formed tears slipped down her cheek.

Stefan's head snapped up and he locked his eyes on Damon. "You." He said, his fists clenching. "This is your fault." He pulled himself up from his heap on the floor and shot over to Damon pressing him against the wall. "Stefan!" Cried Elena but it was too late. The two were fighting neck and neck, words being harshly thrown at each other as they slammed each others bodies across the room. "You think Elena is just like Katherine don't you?" Stefan snarled, grabbing his brother by the neck and holding him to the wall. Damon had only been feeding off animal blood for the last two days and felt Stefan's power over throw him- he was nailed to the wall unable to move under his grip. Stefan grabbed a lamp off a hear by table and smashed it over his brothers head, the shards of glass making small but deep cuts all over Damon's body. Damon let out a forceful yell as the glass stung him, his body not able to heal until the pieces were removed. Elena watched the events her mouth hanging open at the side of Stefan she had never seen before; she threw her self at Stefan trying to get him away from Damon. It worked and she knocked his balance causing him to fall to the floor.

"LEAVE." Screamed Elena at Stefan; her face burning with rage. Stefan's impulses finally caught up to him and he realized that staying could only make things worse. He scampered from the room and into the surrounding forest.

Once he was gone Elena turned to Damon's cut up body and winced. He was picking out long pieces of glass form his torso with his bare hands, watching as the wounds healed over. "Don't move." She whispered tenderly, using her new speed to remove as many shards as she could. Once they were all gone she stood up and looked at him face to face, their bodies inches apart yet again. "That could have gone worse." Damon smiled cheekily sliding his hands across Elena's waist and pulling her to him.


End file.
